'y^,-V/'. 




HOW TO OBTAIN A PATENT 

AND 

WHAT TO INVENT 



• • • 

• * • 



JOHN LOUIS WATERS & COMPANY 
Warder Building .... Washington, D. C. 



m 



JOAO TOSTA 

oslNVENTOR Orss 

TOYS, GAMES and SMALL ARTICLES. > 

CFflCE 44 SUMMER ST ADDRESS P. BOX 930. 



LOWELL, MAS&, Vime 7, 6. 

Jo)m Leeds Waters & Oo.« 

SollOitOn of PBt«lt8» 

WaShiiieto&» S. 0. 
Gentlsmsn: 

In yorar xoaoageiasnt of zoy applloation for patent ITo. 1»141«434, 
2 consider that I reoeived iiteetloatle services; that the ease tms 
allowed within the sliortest possible time from the date of filing 
the apr^licatlon, that Is* in forty-two days; that yon did not m- 
doly urge me for the small monthly payment to coTor yonr fees; that 
yonr foes were not eiSiorhl teat, nor did yon charge interest for the 
credit eztonded to ne, 

I fiffl more than pleased with yonr ability and the eatlsfactozy 

e 

manner in r/la.icAi m^ cases hare been pz'ips^nted and handled by yon and t 

• • ■ 
••• 
intend to give you all my future busineas. 

Yours very truly. 




'>< w©- rr w|VO-Orv/'U^ 



"UioJuX* , ">< ^^n. 



HOW TO OBTAIN A PATENT 
AND WHAT TO INVENT 



COMPLETE HAND-BOOK OF ADVICE AND 
USEFUL INFORMATION FOR INVENTORS, 
RELATIVE TO PATENT OFFICE PRO- 
CEDURE, FOREIGN PATENTS. 
TRADE-MARKS AND 
COPYRIGHTS 



Copyrighted 1915 

JOHN LOUIS WATERS & COMPANY 

WARDER BUILDING 

WASHINGTON, D. C. 







rt» 



/ 



cu4ioo9r) 



T 



e 



PREFACE 

£ /|| HE present pamphlet is intended to convey to you a 
\^ brief, concise, and honest statement relative to our firm, 
the methods under which we operate our business, which are 
the results of long experience, having solely for their objects 
the production of the highest quality of work and honest 
dealing, and the necessary and full information with regard 
to the patent and trade-mark practice of the United States 
and of the various foreign countries offering such protection. 

WHAT TO INVENT 

In presenting tlie following suggestions to inventors, we make no pre- 
tense whatever, nor would we wish inventors to understand that no patents 
have been granted in the classes named. What is particularly wanted are 
devices which in themselves possess superior merits to those in common use. 

1. An automatic self-inking proof roller.- 

2. Devices for conveniently keeping record of telephone messages sent. 

3. White indelible ink, for marking black clothing, would find a ready 
sale. 

4. A practical self-inking typewriting machine, dispensing with carbon 
ribbons. 



OUR FIRM 

We are experienced patent attorneys and are fully capable 
of handling properly all work entrusted to our care, having 
every facility for procuring patents promptly. Our Mr. 
DAVID P. MOORE, who is the senior member of our firm, 
controls the destinies of the same, and those associated with 
him in the conduct of its business have had a long and 
varied experience in all of the branches of the patent practice. 
They entered the employ of large and responsible patent 
firms immediately upon the completion of their technical 
education, thus mastering the profession in a practical man- 
ner under tutors of world-wide reputations, and they now 
occupy a position second to none in knowledge of technique 



4 John Louis Waters & Company 

and the intricacies of the patent practice. In order to 
efficiently master the intricacies of the practice of patent 
procedure, one's entire time and education must be devoted 
to its study; the intricacies must be a second nature with 
him, to be subsequently supplemented by the study of law. 
Mr. Moore and his associates fulfill these requirements to the 
letter. Our entire corps of assistants, both in and out of 
our office (including experts in patent law, mechanics, elec- 
tricity, chemistry, etc., draftsmen, designers, and searchers 
or examiners) has been selected with great care and with the 
sole purpose of procuring the best talent obtainable. 

WHAT TO INVENT 

5. A blotting substance of increased absorbent nature which is better 
than blotting paper. 

6. A substitute for tar or -metal as a roofing material. Cheap, durable, 
and waterproof. 

7. A new and perfect artificial fuel, compounded from natural products, 
and cheaper than coal. 

8. A device for quickly and efifectively cleaning hair brushes. Also toilet 
articles of general use. 

9. New systems of house heating and ventilation are in demand. No 
perfect system is yet in use. 



OUR OFFICES 

We are located in the city of Washington, D. C, where 
the entire patent business of the United States and the work- 
ing of the Federal Government are transacted, therefore we 
are in a position to give more prompt and effective service 
than attorneys located remote from Washington. The mem- 
bers and assistants of our firm enjoy a large personal 
acquaintance with the official stafif of examiners of the 
United States Patent Office. The worth and advantage of 
this to our clients cannot be estimated too highly, as per- 
sonal arguments and interviews with the Examiners, which 
forms a part of our daily routine procedure in patent prose- 



) 



J 



Patent Attorneys, Washington, D. C. 5 

cutions, enables us to produce results that might never be 
attained by any amount of correspondence, which is the 
usual and necessary course pursued by out-of-town prac- 
titioners, so that it takes us about half the time required by 
the attorneys outside of Washington to effect results valuable 
to inventors. Our offices are directly opposite the United 
States Patent Office, so that we can get in direct touch with 
the various divisions at a moment's notice, thereby expedit- 
ing the causes which have been entrusted in our care by 
our clients, thus enabling us to subserve with promptness 
and zeal their great work. Our reputation and the good will 

WHAT TO INVENT 

10. A practical automatic cut-off safety gas cock, whereby the flow of 
gas is permitted only when lighted. 

11. A process and apparatus for drawing electrical energy from the 
atmosphere and storing it for use. 

12. Means for braking cars and other vehicles which will be quick-act- 
ing, and will not "flat" the wheels. 

13. A practical device for regulating incandescent electric lights which 
can be turned partly off or on like gas. 

14. Type-setting and casting machinery on the plan of the "linotype," 
but more simple and easier in operation. 



of our clients are the most valuable assets we have, so we 
make every endeavor with earnestness to render punctual and 
efficient service. 

OUR BUSINESS METHODS 

It is our special aim and primary object to procure patents 
as promptly as possible, with strict regard to the legal grant 
of the invention. 

DELAYS ARE DANGEROUS IN PATENT MATTERS 

We believe it is our duty to impress upon you the dangers 
incident to any delay, no matter of how short duration, in 



6 John Louis Waters & Company 

the filing of your application in the United States Patent 
Office. Many valuable inventions and their probable pro- 
ceeds have been lost to their inventors by a delay in the 
filing of their applications, as such delays have permitted 
unscrupulous persons, who have gained a knowledge of 
such inventions, to procure patents and reap the benefits 
from inventions which do not belong to them. This delay 
has also permitted inventors who conceived their inventions 
after the conception by the original inventors to procure 
patents and thus probably defeat the issuance of patents to 
the original inventors. 

WHAT TO INVENT 

15. Improved electrical conductor, lessening resistance to the current 
and loss thereby by leakage and radiation. 

16. A noiseless typewriting machine is greatly needed. All workers in 
modern offices will appreciate this invention. 

17. Fashionable confectioners want a box which cannot be repacked w th 
confections of an inferior grade without discovery. 

18. A tough transparent substitute for glass, which will not crack under 
a high degree of heat, and will withstand a great strain. 

19. A perfect fire-proofing compound, which will not injure tb.e materials 
to which it is applied, and which is safe and inexpensive. 



INVENTIONS ARE GOOD INVESTMENTS 

We beg to direct your attention to the fact that no other 
class of investments ofifers like chances for profits as are 
offered by American and foreign patents procured upon 
inventions of merit. 

The industry and progress of the entire world is directly 
due to and wholly dependent ■ upon invention. The big 
fortunes that have been amassed in this country in the 
past century, and those now being amassed, are i^early all 
directly or indirectly due to one or more inventions. 

But no invention is worth anything to its inventor unless 
it is patented, for until that time it is generally the common 
property of anyone who l)y fair or -foul means may first 
secure a patent on it. 



Patent Attorneys, Washington, D. C. 7 

If you have invented anything of merit, no matter how 
simple or complex, have your idea protected by a U. S. 
patent. There is no other w^ay. 

OBJECT OF THIS PUBLICATION 

The object of this publication is to fully instruct you how 
to get a patent upon your invention in our country, and all 
foreign countries, as letters written in the ordinary course 
of business in reply to inquiries are necessarily too brief to 
give the information you should have before filing your 
application for patent. A further object is to impress upon 

WHAT TO INVENT 

20. An improvement in doors similar but superior to the "revolving 
door," which has been a financial success, but has some objections. 

21. Improvements in key action, carriage movement, ribbon and other 
parts of writing machines, to cheapen the cost and enhance speed and 
accuracy. 

22. A simple cork extractor which will not break up the cork and cause 
portions of the latter to fall into the bottle will satisfy a general demand. 

2-^. A simple and effective coflFee mill for domestic use, provided with 
means for regulating the degree of fineness to which the coffee is ground. 

24. Improved machinery and apparatus for curing, stripping, and pack- 
ing tobacco. The present methods require much space and great loss of 
time. 



you the importance of properly protecting your invention, 
that is, your patent should issue upon claims which will pro- 
tect your invention and not upon claims which will permit 
a slight change in the invention to evade the patent. An 
invention which is properly protected will permit you to sue 
and procure damages from any person who manufactures 
your invention or device substantially the same. The 
Supreme Court of the United States (case Toplifif vs. Topliff, 
1892), in an opinion by Mr. Justice Brown, makes this 
statement: "The specification and claim of a patent, par- 
ticularly if the invention be at all complicated, constitute one 
of the most difficult legal instruments to draw with accuracy, 
and in view of the fact that valuable inventions are often 



8 John Louis Waters & Company 

placed in the hands of inexperienced persons to prepare such 
specifications and claims, it is no matter of surprise that the 
latter frequently fail to describe with requisite certainty the 
exact invention of the patentee, and err either in claiming 
that which the patentee had not in fact invented or in omit- 
ting some element which was a valuable or essential part 
of his actual invention." This comment from the highest 
tribunal in the United States should preclude inventors from 
placing or entrusting their business in the hands of inex- 
perienced attorneys. 

WHAT TO INVENT 

25. Special machinery for shoe-lasting, book-binding, metal-working, and 
other purposes. Improvements upon machinery in general use are often 
very valuable. 

26. A safety envelope that cannot be opened without detection is great- 
ly desired. There are some inventions in this line, but there is still room 
for improvement. 

2.^. An invention for holding up a lady's skirt when walking in tlie street 
would be highly appreciated by the ladies, especially if tliey are encum- 
bered with bundles. 

28. A more sensitive and accurate diaphragm for telephones, phono- 
graphs, and similar instruments, whereby the sounds produced will he 
clearer, louder and more natural. 

29. Journals for car and other axles have 1 een much improved, but "hot 
boxes" are still of frequent occurrence. Improved metals for anti-friction 
bearing can be patented. 



WRITE FOR INFORMATION 

Read this book carefully — every word is of vital import- 
ance to yoU. Then, if there are any questions you want to 
ask, any information you desire on your individual problems, 
sit down and write us, fully and frankly. 

We make no charge for any information or advice which 
we may be able to give you. 

We earnestly, conscientiously, and zealously have the 
interest of our clients at heart and solicit any patent business 
which you may have, and upon receiving" the same, will give 
it prompt and careful attention,. 
Yours very truly, 

JOHN LOUIS WATERS & CO. 



HOW TO OBTAIN A PATENT 

AND 

WHAT TO INVENT 



YOUR PATENT ATTORNEY 

A Competent Attorney means a Protective Patent 

An Incompetent Attorney means a Worthless Patent 

Which do you want? 

We can not urge upon an inventor too strongly the care 
he should exercise in selecting his patent attorney. In fact, 

WHAT TO INVENT 

30. A preserving compound for wooden piles is desired on the Pacific 
Coast that will make piles immune from the attacks of teredos and other 
forms of destructive marine life. 

31. A washboard with soaping apparatus or means embodied therein, and 
so arranged that the soap would be applied by the action of rubbing, would 
be a profitable invention. 

32. Ingenious articles of utility formed of wire bent from a single piece, 
and therefore extremely cheap. This applies particularly to household and 
store fittings and simple implements. 

33. An ink bottle which will permit of- the insertion of a pen point 
therein, will provide a regular depth of dip for the pen point, and w.ll pre- 
vent the evaporation of ink contained in it. 



the Commissioner of Patents himself in the official book, 
"Rules of Practice in the United States Patent Office," ad- 
vises inventors as follows: "To employ a competent attorney, 
as the value of patents depends largely upon the skillful 
preparation of the specification and claims." 

In order for an inventor to secure the fullest protection 
warranted by the novelty of his invention it is absolutely 
essential that his interests, in the procurement of a patent, 
have the personal care and attention of a skilled patent 
attorney, for otherwise, though no difficulty be experienced 
in obtaining the patent, sooner or later, and just at a time 
when success seems to be in his grasp, the discovery is apt 



10 John Louis Waters & Company 

to be made that his patent, upon which he has depended to 
bring him financial profit, is so unnecessarily limited and 
restricted in the protection it afifords that it is practically 
worthless and he finds that his time, money, and labor have 
been wasted. 

With the inventor the incentive of his efforts is "financial 
remuneration as a dividend on his genius. It is a practical 
business proposition with him, with financial gain as the goal, 
or he would not devote his time nor his money to the busi- 
ness. Therefore, let us say, that a patent attorney with 
professional standing occupies as important a position with 

WHAT TO INVENT 



34. An improvement in printing presses to do away with the necessity 
for an elaborate make-ready. Much time is lost in overlaying and under- 
laying forms that would be saved by such a device. 

35. An invention is desired which will make a horse secvn-e on his legs 
on slippery pavements. 

36. New construction of boats and methods of boat propelling. Some- 
thing better than paddle wheels or screws. Water drawn in at the bow of 
the vessel and forcibly expelled at the stern has been tried. 

37. A better type of fixed ammunition for rapid-fire guns is greatly de- 
sired. We would suggest a caseless charge compressed in the form of a 
solid cylinder and attached in some manner to the J^ase of the projectile. 

respect to an inventor as steam to a locomotive. Without 
the assistance of a competent patent attorney the genius of 
the inventor is often rendered valueless. Without steam the 
value of the locomotive as an aid to transportation is nil. 

Our qualifications and professional standing as patent 
attorneys are universally recognized, and therefore we feel 
justified in soliciting the business of inventors and such 
others as may desire skillful and capable service in patent 
matters of any nature whatsoever. We will gladly furnish on 
request from you the names of clients for whom we have 
handled patent business and who, in every case, have nothing 
but the highest praise for f)ur methods. 



Patent Attorneys, Washington, D. C. 



II 




SELDEN PATENT 




MODERN AUTO 

The two reproductions on this page show the wonderful development 
of the automobile since the year of 1896. The drawing on the u^per half 
of the page is reproduced from the Selden patent, which was the beginning- 
of the development of the automobile. The half-tone on the lower half of 
the page shows the automobile of today — a six-cylinder, valve in head, 
Buick touring car. Mr. Selden, it is generally understood, receives about 
$10,000 a day in royalties on his patent. 



12 John Louis Waters & Company 

WHAT OTHERS HAVE DONE 

K^a«f nf the c^enius that adorns the 
No other nation can boast ot tne ^enm 
.= nf American inventive history and to which tnis 
pages ot American i element its rank as a 

ciUpH in the reward of enormous fortunes. 
suUed m the rew s^^^ies-two men whose names are 
To Jenne and C i^. onoies uwij 

WHAT TO INVENT ^ 



38. A safety stirrup one *at would be s ™ged by a ^spring^or^o|,er. 
:/if ?^:rrumn°.' b\fkwfrd*o'r'dtwnJaTd' „ou,d cause the release of .be 

'°°39. Why canno. a system "< b""fi=^-X''' The'aSvaS'agTsIf 'sueh'a 
goods stores, be d'-f* ^-/^ff^'iit Tgreat'slving of tin,e and labor, 
system are many, and wouia encci a s 

40. An autotnobile street ™«P" '^^f.^n SdTy^\e''rachine «" "e 
ll-l"fl t"Lir„e'r.?;reaSll'ng t^'dSst fo be tbr^own out during .ts 



operation. 



operauoii. . . 

4. New labor-saving means in washing, wringing drying and n-omng 
clothes would be P-f ^able and shou d ^-^,,^^5 a 'e Always appreciated 
Laundry improvements, when properly proxec , 
and have a quick sale. 



almost unknown to the general pub.ic^is chiefly due the 
development of the writing machmes of today. Sholes, who 
diedlh, began as a mechanic, and a untversally-known 
typewriter was to a great extent his creation. 

Mergenthaler, who received millions from the Imo ype 

machine, was originally an "P"' "-^ ' /"^If^to - 
making telescopes and other soenttfic apparatus, 
trlvance is now in use all over the world. 

L C Crowell was likewise a toiler at the day's wages when 
he began to invent improvements in printmg machines. His 
connivance for folding paper, which brought h.m a large 



Patent Attorneys, Washington, D. C. 13 

fortune, made possible the present enormous editions of 
many-paged newspapers. 

The process of welding metals under water by means of 
the electric arc was not recognized at first as a great dis- 
covery. Its inventor, George D. Burton, was a mechanic, 
and every cent he could get hold of he spent on his idea, until 
just as he had begun to despair, he sold a part interest in 
his patent for $100,000. 

Alex. P. Morrow was a mechanic employed by a bicycle 

WHAT TO INVENT 

42. New compositions of matter. Dyestuffs are patented in great num- 
bers, and some very valuable. Mere prescriptions cannot be patented, but 
new chemical compounds, such as phenacetin, are patentable, and ofter 
yield great profits. 

43. Improvements in apparatus for generating and using acetylene ga<; 
are now especially wanted. This gas has been proved a valuable illumi- 
nating medium, and simple means for safely generating and storing and 
using it are valuable. 

44. A practical crude-oil burner. There are two main lines of invention 
in this class. One is for supplying the oil mixed with steam for combus- 
tion, and the other is for turning it into vapor and mixing it with air, burn- 
ing it in that form. 

45. A motor plow that could be easily handled and operated would revo- 
lutionize existing agricultural methods. Besides the motor plow, there are 
other farm implements where the principle of the automobile could be ap- 
plied to advantage. 



company when he invented the coaster brake which bears 
his name. He has become rich from royalties. 

F. A. Flannigan had a little jewelry shop in Washington, 
but at length he developed a method of cleaning oil wells 
by dropping an electric stove down into them. Formerly 
when wells became choked with paraffin they were cleaned 
by exploding nitro-glycerin cartridges, a costly method and 
risky. The electric stove process is cheap and can do no 
damage. It made the inventor a very rich man. 

Robert Bruce, inventor of type-casting machines, was 
born in New York. Previous to his invention the casting 



I 



14 John Louis Waters & Company 

of type was a hand process, by which fifteen pieces per 
minute could be produced. After several trials he devised 
an improved machine which produced one hundred and forty 
pieces per minute. This machine is now in use by all of the 
founders, the sale of patents having brought the inventor 
a handsome fortune. 

George M. Pullman, inventor and manufacturer of sleeping 
cars, was born in Brockton, N. Y., in 1831. He had a 
common school education and worked in a country store. 
The first sleeping car, The Pioneer, was built in 1864. The 

WHAT TO INVENT 

46. There is a great demand for an automatic telephone exchange, by 
means of which connections will be made automatically, greatly facilitating 
the service, and doing away with salaries of large numbers of persons usu- 
ally employed at the exchange. Recent experiments of Dr. Pupin have 
demonstrated that the Trans-Atlantic telephone is feasible. Ouadruplex 
machines will also come in t'me, and it may be as easy to send four or five 
messages over a single wire by the telephone as it is by the telegraph now. 

47. A storm-proof cover and sun-shield for standing crops, such as choice 
garden products. A cover which is cheap and simple, and can be easily 
manipulated. Hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of crops are de- 
stroyed by the elements annually. 

48. The need of a pract'cal spark and cinder arrester for use on railway 
locomotives is apparent to all who travel, as frequent fires are ignited by 
the sparks, and the cinders have a disagreeable habit of making known their 
presence in various ways. 



Pullman Palace Car Company was organized in 1867. A 
few years later Mr. Pullman founded the town of Pullman, 
at a cost of $8,000,000 as a center for his manufacturing 
interests. He was worth in the neighborhood of $40,000,000. 
employing 15,000 people and had. a yearly pay-roll of 
$7,500,000. 

George Westinghouse, inventor of the air-brake, was born 
at Central Bridge, N. Y.. in 1864. His air-brake was patented 
in 1879. By 1886 Mr. Westinghouse had taken out patents 
that extended from the front of the engine to the end of 
the rear car. He is now interested in and president of 
seventeen companies that manufacture his inventions, doing 
a $20,000,000 a year business. 



I 



Patent Attorneys, Washington, D. C. 15 

The career of Fulton, in connection with steam navigation, 
is well known. It is scarcely necessary to speak of Benjamin 
Franklin, who first unraveled some of the mysteries of elec- 
tricity; of Elias Howe, who invented the sewing machine; 
of Cyrus H. McCormick, inventor of the harvesting machine; 
of Charles Goodyear, discoverer of the rubber combination, 
or Samuel F. B. Morse, who invented the telegraph. The 
names of Eli Whitney, inventor of the cotton gin; Thomas 
Blanchard, who patented the tack machine, and John Erics- 

WHAT TO INVENT 

49. An apparatus for utilizing tlie great cold-producing power of 1 quelied 
air to cool houses in summer. The tiine may not be far distant when 
hovises can be provided with an ice plant or cooling room which will be 
operated by simply turning on a spigot. 

50. A bottle for containing mucilage which is so constructed that when 
the brush is in place a complete closure of the upper end of the bott'.e will 
be effected, and which will prevent the gumming and sticking of the brush 
to the ins'de of the neck of the bottle. 

51. A bottle or stopper therefor so constructed as to prevent the bottle 
from being filled a second time. Manufacturers of proprietary compounds, 
liquors, perfumery, sauces, etc., are on the lookout for something practical 
of this kind which can be manufactured at a small cost. 



son who designed the screw propeller for vessels and in- 
vented the iron-clad Monitor are familiar to all. 

While many of the foregoing inventors produced machines 
of a more or less complicated nature, it must be borne in 
mind that money can be made more easily out of simple 
patented inventions. Great discoveries, like the typewriter, 
typesetting machine, airbrake, etc., take so many years, and 
cost so much to perfect, that the incomes from same are 
small compared with the incomes from the aggregate field 
of simpler devices. 

The man who discovered that a candle, if tapered at the 
end, would stick firmly into its socket, patented the idea, 
and afterwards founded the largest candle factory in the 



i6 John Louis Waters & Company 

world. Might not any one have thought of this simple device? 
Out of the millions who own umbrellas, how many realize 
that these unfortunately indispensable articles represent wealth 
untold? The frame, the cover, the materials used, are all 
the result of numberless experiments and patents. An um- 
brella, years ago, used to be made of whalebone and gingham. 
It weighed as much as a portmanteau. Alpaca was substi- 
tuted for gingham, then silk for alpaca. Each change meant 
a fortune to the inventor who brought it about. For a long- 
time the ribs were solid; then Samuel Fox arose, took the 

WHAT TO INVENT 

52. Another field which has not been successfully exploited is the shuck- 
ing of oysters and clams. Any simple mechanism for accomplishing this 
object would, in all probability, prove an immensely valuable invention, as 
the present hand work is necessarily slow, tedious, and expensive. 

53. Removing coke from ovens. Perhaps the most serious drawback to 
the production of coke is the apparent impossibility of removing the coke 
from the oven without cooling the oven. The process now employed of 
cooling the oven with water generates steam which afTects the structure of 
the oven injuriously, and materially lessens its usefulness and durability. 
A practical process for removing the coke without cooling the oven will be 
an invention of unusual value, as it will save thousands of dollars annually 
to the coke industry. 

54. An automatic stoker to replace firemen on locomotives is sure to be 
adopted in the near future. 



umbrella and cut grooves along its ribs. He designed the 
"Patent Paragon Frame," and lived to see his invention used 
universally. At the death of Samuel Fox his heirs benefited 
to the extent of $895,000. 

If an invention be simple and useful it is almost sure to 
be profitable. 

The ball and socket glove fastener is a Frenchman's idea, 
and it has made him rich. A successful invention is the 
double ball clasp for pocket-books and bags. It is said that 
no sort of clasp can be popular unless it makes a noise when 
it catches. Only a few years ago a lucky man thought of 
putting a couple of pieces of cork on the nose-pieces of 



Patent Attorneys, Washington, D. C. 17 

glasses to make them more comfortable. Nearly all eye- 
glasses nowadays have this improvement, and every pair 
pays a royalty to the inventor. One of the most profitable 
small inventions is the tin cap for beer bottles, vvrhich 
is taking the place of corks; it is cheaper than the cork, 
more convenient and keeps the beer better. Metal lemon 
squeezers are undesirable because the juice of the fruit acts 
upon the metal and makes a ppison. Not long ago some one 
thought of making a lemon squeezer of glass and the idea 
w^as worth just $50,000 to him. Tin cans are now being made 

WHAT TO INVENT 

55. An electric flat iron, so constructed that it could be heated by elec- 
tricity and propelled by it, but controlled by the hand of the user, would 
be a blessing to thousands of hard-working housekeepers who do their own 
ironing, and to all laundry workers. 

56. A machine which will pull or throw up beets and other like products 
out of the ground and top and clean the same, would also be a valuable 
invention. Such a machine might resemble a self-binder or analogous har- 
vester, and should include mechanism to withdraw the beets or other prod- 
ucts from the ground, convey them upwardly by means of an endless belt, 
in accurate position, to knives or cutters where they could be chopped, and 
from the knives or cutters pass through a cleaning apparatus or means. 

57. An economic means of absorbing the vibration of both electrical and 
steam motors in automobiles is a desirable invention. This means should 



SO that they can be opened by simply striking the top a smart 
blow. As soon as he learned of the invention. Armour, the 
Chicago packer, ordered 500,000 of the cans, and the inventor 
is already independently wealthy. The automatic inkstand, 
which keeps an equal supply of ink always ready for the 
pen, is said to have earned $200,000. Shoe buttons are no 
longer sewed on, but are applied with a metal fastener. This 
idea has been worth a big fortune. A new contrivance that 
promises to be very profitable is a whistle for bicycles, made 
on the principle of the siren fog whistle. There was $500,000 
made in the wooden shoe peg. Another gold-producing pat- 
ent was the inverted glass bell placed over gas jets to pro- 



i8 John Louis Waters & Company 

tect ceilings. Great sums have been earned by the barbed 
wire for fences, and a contrivance for shaving ice. A "hump" 
on a hook to keep it from slipping out of the eye has made 
the proprietors of the contrivance millionaires. Hundreds 
of thousands of dollars have been made by Dennison out of 
his shipping tags. The idea consists simply of a little ring of 
cardboard that reinforces the tying hole and prevents the 
string from tearing out. A lot of money has been earned by 
the little brass clip fastening, patented a few years ago, by 
which sheets of paper are held together. Yet it is an exact 

WHAT TO INVENT 

be light in weight and inexpensive. The vibration of the motors in auto- 
mobiles tends to rock and strain the bodies of the latter, and at present 
cumbersome vehicle constructions are necessary to wit 'i stand the wear and 
tear. Means for muffling the noise or sound emanating from automobile 
motors is also desirable. Means for condensing exhaust steam in locomo- 
biles without obstructing or retarding the exhaust, and to automatically 
relieve such means of the water of condensation, e ther by exterior outlet 
or returning it to the boiler or feed pipe. An alasolutely safe structure to 
prevent explosion or injurious results due to the new use of vapor or gaso- 
line engines or motors in locomobiles, such as thermal or heat controlled 
vents, valves, and similar dev ces in conjunction with the vajior or gaso- 
line supply tank and cylinders. 

58. In order to cheapen the manufacture of acetylene gas, some means 
will have to be discovered for economically producing magnesium carbide, 
to compete with calcium carbide now commonly used, and from which Itss 



copy of a contrivance in bronze that was used by the Romans 
more than twenty centuries ago. In fact, there are not a 
few modern inventions which are in reality merely reproduc- 
tions of antique contrivances. One of these is the -safety 
pin which was commonly employed by the women of ancient 
Rome to fasten their dresses. Among the most profitable 
patents have been various little devices having relation to 
women's costume, such as the pcrspiratioji proof shield o!" 
rubber, the idea of substituting the quills of chicken and 
turkey feathers for wha!ebone in corsets, and the suspender 
garter. The last was so;d outright for $50,000. 

A slight improven'.cnl ir^ straw cutlers yielded n\ vv $^0,0 10 



I 



V 



Patent Attorneys, Washington, D. C. Uj 

in eight months. A lamp chimney spring yielded over 
$50,000 a year for several years. A printing ink invention 
sold for $60,000. A machine for cleaning grain gave $60,000 
in net profits in fifteen months. N. W. Spaulding of San 
Francisco is credited with receiving $100,000 for his invention 
of saw^ tooth. The Greeley fan brought the inventor $5,000 
a week. The inventor of the little cylinder savings bank 
got about $2,000 a day for several months. Mrs. Potts' sad- 
iron netted over $500,000. 

The man who invented a plan for writing signatures, dates, 

WHAT TO INVENT 

gas can be produced than from a corresponding quantity of magnesium 
carbide. Those inventors who operate in the field of chemistry will find 
it profitable to experiment in an economical production of magnesium 
carbide. 

59.' The man who invents a really practical corn husker which will husk 
standing corn is assured of a fortune. As in the case of the trying work 
of picking cotton, but little help has been given to the farmer by the in- 
ventor. Numerous attempts have been made, but none of the machines 
constructed have proved practicable. One of the latest is a combinat'on 
of the corn binder and the husker and the shredder, which is attached to 
the ordinary farm wagon. The fingers of tlie Jiusker collect the stocks and 
convey them to the rollers of the sliredder, where the husks are removed 
and the ears elevated to wagon box. The principle seems to be all right, 
but the practicability of the machine is yet to be demonstrated. Some day 
the successful machine will appear. 



foot notes, etc., on films when the picture is taken, through 
a small slot in the camera, sold his idea to the Eastman Com- 
pany for $300,000. It will probably net them millions. 

Turning to larger inventions, the binder horseshoe ma- 
chinery produced $900,000; Masuary's tin can, $100,000; 
Waterman's crinoline wire, $85,000; Sturtevant's, veneer for 
shoe pegs, $250,000, while Miller's car coupling and many 
other patents have proved to be small gold mines. 

The drive well was an idea of Colonel Green. It was 
designed to meet a temporary want of water, experienced 
by troops under that officer's command, the simple contri- 



20 John Louis Waters & Company 

vance being subsequently patented and adopted by farmers. 
Colonel Green amassed $300,000 out of royalties. 

The spring" window shade yields $100,000 a year. 

Elias Howe, the inventor of the sewing machine needle, 
received a princely revenue of over $50,000 a year. 

Cyrus H. McCormick, the inventor of the harvesting ma- 
chine, made more than a million in the venture. Goodyear, 
who first vulcanized rubber, obtained a very large fortune 
from royalties. It is said that Isaac Merritt Singer borrowed 
$40 to help perfect his first sewing machine, and now one fac- 

WHAT TO INVENT 

60. A cotton picker to replace the ordinary methods of picking cotton by 
hand is desired by cotton raisers, and if a successful machine of this class 
is produced the inventor will receive a well-merited income therefrom. 

61. A telescopic or folding umbrella that can be easily and quickly re- 
duced to complete form and when folded will not be cumbersome and bulky 
would be a valuable and most profitable invention. Many attempts have 
been made to accomplish this result, but such complex and expensive struc- 
tures have always been presented in the known folding umbrellas that they 
have been of small commercial value. 

62. A prize of 1,000 francs ($163) will be given the inventor who shall 
produce a glove that can be used by electrical workmen to safeguard them 
from accident. The premiuin is offered by the French "Accidents to Work- 
man Assurance Association." The conditions are that the gloves must 



tory alone turns out over 10,000 machines a week. His net 
income was over $240,000 a year for many years, and for one 
year it was over $3,000,000. At his death he left an estate 
worth $13,000,000. 

The Dunlap Pneumatic Tire Company is an illustration of 
the mint of money there is in patents. It commenced with 
a working capital of $112,500. It had been in operation 
but two years when it was sold for $15,000,000 cash. The 
shareholders had then received in dividends and premiums 
the sum of $3,290,575, and by the terms of the sale received 
the further sum of $14,437,500, giving a total result of 



Patent Attorneys, Washington, D. C. 21 

$17,638,075. The purchasers afterward resold to another 
company for the sum of $25,000,000. 

The Westinghouse air-brake made $30,000,000 in profits 
and the Bell Telephone has paid $36,000,000 in dividends. It 
is claimed that there are 150 patents paying more than 
$1,000,000 each annually, and 850 more paying half that sum 
each year. There are thousands paying more than $100,000 
yearly. According to an estimate by the Commissioner of 
Patents, from three-fourths to seven-eighths of the entire 
manufacturing capital of the country of upwards of six 

WHAT TO INVENT 

cover tlie forearm as well as tlie liands; that they must be light, and leave 
the utmost libertj' to the worker. If none of the devices submitted come 
up to the required standard, the prize w 11 be divided among those inven- 
tors who most nearly approach it. 

63. A bottle containing poisons having a practical device for attracting 
the attention of those handling the same, or to indicate by some means that 
its contents are of a poisonous nature, is in demand. The device or struc- 
ture for notifying the user of the dangerous character of the contents of 
the bottle can be applied either to the neck, body, or stopper of the bottle, 
but in devising such indicating means care should be taken to avoid cum- 
bersome or impracticable structures. 

64. The use of aluminum for the manufacture of small arfcles such as 
spectacles and eye-glass frames and the like is prohibited by reason of a 
failure to successfully solder separate aluminum parts to complete a full 



billions is based upon patents. The products of all the gold 
and silver and diamond mines in the world would not equal 
in value the annual incomes of American patentees. 

WILL IT PAY TO SECURE A PATENT? 

Whether or not it pays to secure a patent depends upon 
a number of things — the value of and demand for the 
invention, the "push" and perseverance of the inventor in 
disposing of his patent to a reliable manufacturer (in this 
connection we can be of great help to our clients) — and the 
selection of a reliable patent attorney to handle your case 
and see that your rights and claims are guarded and protected 
to the fullest extent. 



22 John Louis Waters & Company 

The extent of profit frequently depends as much upon the 
business capacity of the inventor, or his agent, as upon the 
intrinsic merit of his invention. There is no other invest- 
ment that offers such large returns, compared to the money 
invested, as does a protective patent. 

Manufacturers are always in the market to secure pro- 
tected substantial improvements on machinery and processes, 
which will enable them to produce their wares more cheaply, 
or of better quality, as they thereby secure a monopoly of a 
cheaper, superior, or improved article in competing for busi- 
ness. 

WHAT TO INVENT 

organization of memliers of such devices. In the arts generally the use of 
aluminum is also prohibited where it 's necessary to connect separate parts 
by reason of a lack of a proper soMer for this purpose. The inventor who 
discovers an economical means, of soldering aluminum will reap a consid- 
erable fortune. 

65. Owing to the destruction of pasturage, cereal crops generally, and 
growing vegetables, by prairie dogs, gophers, and similar small animals, 
serious havoc has resulted from the inroads of these pests. Attempts to 
practically exterminate them have failed. An economical method or means 
for this purpose would be very valuable. The extermination of these i)ests 
can be effected, in all probability, by some yet undiscovered simple de- 
stroyer, either of a chemical or mechanical nature. 

66. Find a substitute material having all the characteristics and advan- 
tages of yieldable India rubber and your fortune is made. Owing to the 
enormous consumption of this substance, the expense of commercial pro 



We can safely and honestly say that in our opinion any 
patent secured on a new or improved invention that "is in 
actual demand, or likely to be in demand, should pay, though 
it is naturally impossible, if not against the ethics of the 
profession, for a patent attorney to predict in advance 
whether or not any particular patent will pay. 

The amount which a financially successful patent pays is 
generally large enough to counteract the cost of a dozen or 
more failures and leave a handsome profit besides. 



WHO MAY OBTAIN A PATENT 

AND 

WHAT MAY BE PATENTED? 

The statutory laws of the United States specifying "Who 
may obtain a patent" and "What may be patented," generally 
speaking, decree: 

That any person, whether a citizen of the United States 
or a citizen of a foreign country, who has invented patentable 
subject-matter may obtain a patent granting to him the 
exclusive right to the invention for a period of seventeen 

WHAT TO INVENT 

duction and the rapidly growing scarcity of tlie natural product, due to the 
reckless destruction of trees and jilants which are the source of the same, 
the rubber output is becoming diminished, and its commercial value corre- 
spondingly increased every year. 

67. Many devices and various kinds of apparatus have been prodviced for 
extinguishing fires in the holds of vessels. This field of invention is still 
ripe, however, for the harvest of fertile brains of inventors, and a simple 
effective extinguishing means of a comparatively inexpensive nature that 
will not obstruct the capacity or operate in a manner to contam'iiate the 
cargo of the hold of a ship will result in a magnificent remuneration to the 
fortunate inventor who discovers the same. 

68. There is a demand for a painting machine of simple construction, 
embodying a gang or series of revolving brushes operated by electricity or 
direct mechanical means or by compressed air, and to which the paint may 



years. Sex, color or kindred conditions are in no way a 
bar to obtaining a patent in the United States. 

That a patent may be granted for any new and useful art, 
machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or for any 
new and useful improvement thereof. The grant of a patent 
for an invention does not prevent the grant of another pat- 
ent for an improvement on such invention. However, the 
patentees are estopped from using each other's invention, 
unless by special license or kindred agreements between 
themselves. 

An invention containing patentable subject-matter must 



24 John Louis Waters & Company 

not only be useful but also new or novel. There are a great 
many conditions which determine the presence of usefulness 
and novelty in an invention, but it will all be boiled down to 
the general statement that where a person conceives an in- 
vention original with him, and the same is both novel and 
useful in the ordinary interpretation given to those terms 
in the patent practice, he can obtain a patent therefor. We 
refrain from burdening our clients with the technical and 
legal side of what constitutes patentable subject-matter in 
an invention, as same if not incomprehensible to them might 

WHAT TO INVENT 

be fed by a conduit running to a supply tank or receptacle. If compressed 
air be the .operating means the paint from the source of supply cou'd ))e 
forced upwardly to the brushes by such air, and moreover the application 
of the paint to a surface of a building or other device could be more evenly 
spread by compressed air. 

69. A simple and absolutely reliable spring cushion devce or analogous 
buflfer to prevent accidents and loss of life from falling elevators is wanted. 
A magnetic check, automatically energized by a predetermined slack in the 
cable through the medium or intermediate device, would also be advan- 
tageous as a safety device for an elevator. There is also room for im- 
provement in automatic closers for elevators. In this class of inventions, 
the usual disadvantageous forms of dumb-waiters might be replaced by 
more economical and practical structures, and numerous automatcally op- 



be confusing and is so infrequently brought up that it is 
deemed unimportant to dwell further upon it in this little 
volume. 

Any new combination of mechanical parts or instruments, 
whereby a new machine is produced, though each of the 
parts be separately old, is an invention containing patentable 
subject-matter. 

Any improvement in any known machine or article of 
manufacture, whereby it is rendered capable of working 
more beneficially or its manufacture is cheapened, is an in- 
vention containing patentable subject-matter. 

Any new and useful process not wholly mechanical is an 
invention containing patentable subject-matter. 



Patent Attorneys, Washington, D. C. 25 

Any new vendible substance, new and improved in itself, 
whether produced by a chemical or a mechanical process is 
an invention containing patentable subject-matter. 

Any new improvements in any manufacture, composition 
of matter, or any art, are inventions containing patentable 
subject-matter. 

Two or more persons may be joint inventors, in which 
instance the rights of all in the issuing patent are equal, it 
being impossible to accurately determine the amount of 
genius contributed by each, the law decrees that they share 

WHAT TO INVENT 

crating devices, both mechanical and electrical, could be devised for raising 
and lowering such waiters. 

70. A very convenient and profitable invention would be an automatic 
signal to notify icemen, grocers, butchers, milkmen, or other tradesmen 
when they are wanted. Such a signal might be located at the front of a 
residence and operated from the interior of the latter, so that the trades- 
man desired could see the same in passing and take an order without re- 
quiring anyone in such residence to go to the place of business of the 
various tradesmen. 

71. New principles in cash registering means and purchasing indicators 
are always in demand and anxiously sought by the manufacturers of cash 
registers. Cash registers as now manufactured are more or less expensive 
and embody complex features. A departure from the ordinary methods of 
cash-registering constructions with quick, practical results and efficiency, 



alike. The interests of joint inventors, however, can be 
varied by proper assignment. 

A full term of a patent is seventeen years and it can not 
be extended except by act of Congress; such extension it 
is practically impossible to obtain. 

HOW TO OBTAIN A PATENT 
This Is IMPORTANT— Read Carefully. 

If you have an invention for which you desire to secure a 
patent you should AT ONCE forward us by registered mail, 
or insured parcel post, or express, a drawing, photograph, or 
model, with a complete description. 

We will at once have one of our experts make a c^refu} 



26 John Louis Waters & Company 

and thorough search of the Patent Office records ?.nd will 
write you immediately whether or not, in our opinion, your 
invention is patentable. 

For this search we make no charge whatever, nor do you 
obligate yourself in any way in asking us to make a search 
for you, so that you should send us your drawing, etc., and 
let us make this important search and report fully to you 
AT ONCE. 

WHAT to INVENT 

would be a source of substantial income to tlie fortunate inventor devising 
and protecting the same. 

T2. An improved method or means of exterminating flies, roaches, and 
other similar pests in houses, hotels, and restaurants is greatly desired. 
The means now employed are rarely effective and are frequently of such 
an extremely poisonous nature as to be dangerous in tlie'r use. Witliin 
this same class of invention, practical means of exterminating mosfjuitoes 
is also desired, particularly in view of the fact that recent experiments have 
demonstrated that mosquitoes spread the germs of malaria, yellow fever, 
and kindred diseases. 

73. A practical household ice machine in connection with a refrigerator 
which could be operated by a water or other similar motor, would be a 
valuable invention. In devisng a machine of this class it is suggested 
that means be provided for producing the ice directly in tlie refrigerator. 



OUR CERTIFICATE OF PATENTABILITY 

If we report your invention patentable, we send you, with 
our report, a handsome, engraved Certificate of Patentability 
certifying that in our opinion, based upon a thorough search 
of the Patent Office records, your invention is patentable. 

The importance of this Certificate of Patentability, signed 
by a reputable firm, like ours, to an inventor seeking finan- 
cial aid from friends or others to pay the expense of securing 
a patent has been fully proven, but in dealing with us you 
have the advantage of Our Credit System, designed especially 
to help inventors financially, and make it unnecessary for 
them to assign large interests in their inventions to others, in 
order to raise the small amount necessary to secure a 
patent. 



Patent Attorneys, Washington, D. C. 27 

THE COST OF A PATENT 

Attorney's Fee $25 00 

Patent Office Drawing (one sheet) 5 00 

First Government Fee 15 00 

Final Government Fee (payable within 6 months 

after application is allowed) 20 00 

Total $65 00 

WHAT TO INVENT 



and if some inexpensive chemical or electrical means for this purpose is 
discovered a long-felt want will be supplied. 

74. A practical, cheap, and efificient pocket match box, which will be con- 
structed and operated by simple manipulation to deliver one match at a 
time, would be a most valuable acquisition to this class of devices. There 
is a demand for an improvement in the usual form of match boxes, in view 
of the fact that those that have heretofore been devised were of such a com- 
plex and expensive nature that they had but a limited commercial value. 

75. A boot-blacking machine for effectively polishing the parts of a boot 
or shoe and operated by the nickle-in-a-slot principle is wanted, and would 
be a profitable field of invention in which to enter. Such machine would 
have to include a motor and mechanism for applying and rubbing on the 
polish, and might be in the form of brushes or textile bands, or both. 



These are standard prices, such as all reputable attorneys 
charge, excepting a few whose charges are higher. 

In cases of a complicated or difficult nature the total cost 
of the patent will be more than above stated, the drawings 
costing more and the attorney's fee increased in accordance 
with the amount of labor which the case requires, the Gov- 
ernment fees being the same in all cases. 

In cases where the cost exceeds the above scale you will 
be so informed before we proceed. 

OUR CREDIT SYSTEM 

Realizing that frequently inventors are not in position to 
advance the full cost of securing their patent we have orig- 
inated and installed for the convenience of our clients our 
Credit System, through which we positively prepare your 



28 John Louis Waters & Company 

drawings and specifications and actually file your application 
in the U. S. Patent Ofiice before you pay us our fee. 

We do not know of another patent attorney anywhere 
who will make such an offer and live up to it as we do. 
Others insist on the advance payment of at least $20.00 
before they will lift a finger in your case. Then they send 
drawings and papers for you to execute and when you re- 
turn those papers you must remit their fee in full before 
they will file your case . Such methods actually court delay. 

WHAT TO INVENT 

76. If incubators are made that are mechanically regulated and held to 
a given degree of heat, with an electric bell to call when there is need of 
attention, why cannot a cook stove be produced on the same plan? Tliis 
stove should contain a series of ovens controlled by thermometers and 
equipped with a simple electrical appliance to call when there is danger. 
The heat in one oven could be regulated to cook meat, eggs, and other 
albuminous foods ; another oven to be regulated for boiling purposes. In 
another the heat could be regulated for baking bread, etc. 

77. Printing without type. Not only has this been accomplished by the 
inventor of this system, Mr. Friese-Green, but he has actually succeeded 
in printing in colors without the use of any pigment whatever. This 
process is accomplished through the use of electricity and can be applied 
to any press, it being only necessary to remove the ink roller. This inven- 
tion opens up an endless field of invention. 



whereas our credit system prevents delay because we start 
to work on your case as soon as you start your pay ments. 

After we file your application we then allow you to even 
remit our attorney's fee in small payments, so that in doing 
business with us you don't have to worry about money 
matters — you don't have to beg financial assistance from 
others who, if they think you have a good thing, will take 
advantage of your lack of funds and "freeze you out." 

On the other hand you are not obliged to take advantage 
of our credit system and by paying cash you are entitled to 
a liberal credit on future patent business you place with us. 

Don't let the matter of dollars and cents prevent you from 
protecting your ideas but let our Credit System help you to 
gecure your patent and own it. 



Patent Attorneys, Washington, D. C. 29 

THE APPLICATION 

The application papers include the petition, specification, 
oath, and, where possible, drawings, which, to secure protec- 
tion, must be filed in the Patent Office together with the 
first Government fee of $15. This we positively attend to 
before you have paid us our attorney's fee. As soon as the 
application is filed you will be protected against the grant, 
without your knowledge, of a patent for the same thing to 
another person. After the application has been filed we send 

WHAT TO INVENT 

78. There is a great demand for a practical wall-papering machine. By 
this is meant machines that are readily portable and to which the paper 
may be easily applied and delivered therefrom to walls or ceilings by a 
simple operation. A machine of this character, embodying features to per- 
mit the operator to stand at a distance from the wall to be covered and 
dispose the machine at the proper angle to the wall or ceiling as to obtain 
a square application of the paper will solve this problem. 

79. A practical musical instrument which shall produce orchestral music, 
including the representation of a violin, cornet, trombone, flageolet, flute, 
and piccolo, bass viol, snare and bass drum, leaving the expression of the 
music under the control of the operator. Also, in connection with such 
instrument, a machine for preparing perforated sheet music with which to 
operate the musical instrument. 

80. Many attempts have been made to practically cool and ventilate cars 
by replacing vitiated air with successive or continuous charges of fresh air 



you the official filing receipt. The specification should con- 
tain a clear, concise and accurate description of the device 
and its operation; the advantages and conveniences should 
also appear. To this should be subjoined a condensed state- 
ment of the invention in the form of one or more claims 
embodying all its novel features. As your attorneys we will 
personally attend to all these details for you. 

THE CLAIMS 

The actual value of a patent is measured by the character 
of its claims. While formerly the impression prevailed to 
a great extent that the essential thing to insure protection 



30 John Louis Waters & Company 

was a patent of some kind, the manufacturing public has been 
educated to understand that the vital and all-important part 
of a patent is its claims. If the claims are narrow and re- 
stricted, the patent is comparatively worthless, and on the 
other hand, if the invention is valuable and well covered by 
broad and comprehensive claims, the patent is readily en- 
dorsed by manufacturers, their consulting counsel, and meets 
with prompt sale and adoption. If patents were properly 
prepared at the outset, the number of patent suits would 

WHAT TO INVENT 

from the exterior. Some of these have been more or less successful, but 
in the present systems, under the most favorable circumstances, the appa- 
ratus used materially adds to the expense of the car equipments, and in 
some structures the thorough ventilation and cooling of a car is not 
effected equally throughout the interior area. 

8i. Inventions for the utilization of waste products, or by-products, re- 
sulting from the treatment of various articles or commodities in manufac- 
turing, are always successful if practical and meritorious. For example, the 
numerous so-called "waste products" of the packing houses of Chicago 
and other places are turned to account, and are probably as profitable as 
the meat or principal product. In the same manner waste and by-products 
of soap factories, dye works, and numerous other establishments are utilized 
and made sources of profit. Inventions resulting in the utilization of such 
common waste products as ashes, furnace slag, sawdust, and oyster shells 
cannot fail to prove successful on the market. 



be greatly decreased, as the rights of the patentee would 
stand out in such unmistakable language in the claims that 
rival parties would not care to trench upon the clearly 
defined rights of the patentee. 

Experienced inventors and patentees appreciate the im- 
portance of having their applications for patent intelligently 
prepared and skillfully prosecuted. 

Special training and experience such as we possess are 
required to properly prepare an application and prosecute it 
to allowance upon the best possible claims. 

To secure a patent is one thing, but to secure a patent that 
will stand subsequent judicial investigation, and effectually 



Patent Attorneys, Washington, D. C. 31 

protect the patentee against imitators or evaders, is a differ- 
ent undertaking and one with which we are thoroughly 
familiar. 

While the Examiners of the Patent Office are, to an extent, 
judicial officers, they at the same time stand in the position 
of attorneys for the Government, and strenuously oppose 
the granting of broad, sweeping claims if there is any ground 
for opposition, since any laxity on the part of the applicant 
in claiming his invention inures to the benefit of the public 
whom the Examiner represents. And if an applicant for 

WHAT TO INVENT 

82. The utilization of the sun's rays for mechanical purposes is now 
actively engaging the attention of inventors. The most practical apparatus 
up to the present time is one recently tested in Southern California. It 
consists of a large reflector in the shape of an umbrella with the top cut 
away. The inner surface is lined with numerous small mirrors, which con- 
centrate the sun's rays and direct them upon a boiler located within the 
reflector, 

83. After centuries of use, the cork-closing bottles are passing slowly 
away, and ruliber, metal, glass, pasteboard, and pulp coverings are taking 
the place of cork. Success awaits the inventor who hits the popular taste 
for a cork substitvite. Fruit jars have long had patent tops; beer is seldom 
sold in any other way ; and milk is now put up in bottles that have little 
covers of metal. Citrate of magnesia bottles have now a special stopper 
of their own. Rubber corks are made in great quantities, and glass tops 
to ordinary corks are made for the high-class drug and perfume trade. The 



patent presents limited claims which do not amply protect 
his invention, instead of claims of sufficient legal scope to 
prevent the appropriation of the invention by imitators and 
infringers, it is not a part of the duty of the Patent Office 
to suggest the presentation of broader claims, but to allow 
the application upon the claims of record. 

In brief, the inventor is presumed to know what he has 
invented and to understand the scope of the claims filed; 
and in case of litigation the courts can not broaden the scope 
of a claim beyond the obvious meaning of the language em- 
ployed. 

As heretofore stated by the Supreme Court "valuable in- 



32 John Louis Waters & Company 

ventions are often placed in the hands of inexperienced per- 
sons," and it is a matter of common knowledge that many 
applications for patent are prepared by persons who have 
had no legal training, and who consequently have no appre- 
ciation of the legal scope of patent claims as defined and 
established by the courts. 

In this connection we will say that specifications for ap- 
plications for patent, as well as all other legal documents 
emanating from our ofifice, are prepared by lawyers of ex- 
perience, who are specialists in patent law. 

WHAT TO INVENT 

mechanism now coming into use for the soda and beer bottles, and fruit 
jars as well, is the eccentric one in which a double wire loosely clasping 
the neck of the bottle, when pushed up, raises the stopper cleanly and easily. 

84. There is a large fortune in store for some energetic inventor who 
will devise a bob-sled or the like having practical means of propulsion con- 
trollable within the confines of the body of the sled and departing from 
the usual gripping or traction wheel devices heretofore invented for this 
purpose. A valuable feature of construction in automobile sleds would be 
"means for practically ascending grades or hills by step movement, and also 
to have the propulsive or operating mechanism capable of being thrown out 
of contact with the surface over which the sled is moved to adapt the latter 
to descend grades by its own momentum. Reliable steering devices for a 
sled of this class would also have to be provided. 



PROSECUTING THE CASE BEFORE THE 
PATENT OFFICE 

A well prepared specification and well executed drawings 
greatly expedite the allowance of an application by the 
Patent Office, as the Examiner is thus relieved of annoyance 
and unnecessary work in the examination of the case. 

The Patent Office Examiners appreciate good work on 
the part of the attorney, and when a specification fully and 
intelligently sets forth the invention, and presents claims of 
proper form and scope, much unnecessary labor and corre- 
spondence are avoided, and the Examiner's whole attention 
can be given to the search required, to determine the novelty 



Patent Attorneys, Washington, D. C. 



33 




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C o 

-4-> QJ 
^ 4-. 

bjo c 

OS .:i 
I- ^ 

07:; 



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O rt 



34 John Louis Waters & Company 

of the invention, instead of to criticising the description and 
claims. 

On the other hand, a case which is poorly and incorrectly 
prepared entails upon the Examiner much study and extra 
labor in determining just what the applicant is seeking to 
claim; and loosely drawn specifications and inferior draw- 
ings naturally have a tendency to prejudice the Examiner 
in his action. 

It is obvious that when an invention is well shown, de- 
scribed and claimed, no criticism on the part of the Patent 

WHAT TO INVENT 

85. Sooner or later the faithful tow-path mule will be emancipated. At- 
tempts have been made to prope»l canal boats by the trolley system, but 
thus far without complete success. Two obstacles must 1 :e overcome before 
practical success is reached. One is the provis'on of means for maintaining' 
the trolley in efifective contact with the conductor, and the other the pre- 
vention of "side wash" or undue disturbance of the water which undermines 
the canal banks. The benefit to the shipping public which would result 
from a more expeditious canal service cannot be estimated. 

86. In a railroad disaster in the tunnel of the New York Central Rail- 
road great destruction of property and loss of life ensued from the explosion 
of the Pintsch gas reservoirs. The use of gas is therefore shown to be as 
dangerous as the car stove, and the discovery of some illuminating means 
that will not tend to fire the same in the event of accident will prove to be 
a valuable invention. 



Office is required, except such as may afifect the scope of the 
claims based upon prior patents, which the Examiner may 
find in his search, and the points at issue between the 
applicant and the Examiner are quickl}^ defined and may be 
speedily determined, if the attorney resides in Washington. 

THE OFFICIAL DRAWINGS 

Next in importance to the proper preparation of the specifi- 
cation and claims comes the Patent Office drawings. 

During the preparation of the application for patent, it 
sometimes becomes necessary to prepare more than one 
sheet of drawings to illustrate the invention as required by 
the rules and regulations of the Patent Office. In such 



Patent Attorneys, Washington, D. C. 35 

cases the usual expense of filing an application is increased 
proportionately to each additional sheet of drawing required. 
Our experience teaches us that it is money well spent to 
show every detail of an invention by large, clear, well-exe- 
cuted drawings. By this means we facilitate examinations 
in the Patent Office and invariably secure the most satis- 
factory results in the shortest period of time. 

We are fully aware of the importance of having the draw- 
ings prepared by the most skillful and experienced draftsmen 
obtainable. In all cases entrusted to us the drawings are 

WHAT TO INVENT 

87. There is great demand in eyeglasses for some means of practica'.ly 
securing the extrem'ties of the nose-spring, the nose-pad arms, and the 
posts secured to the lenses which will resist accidental loosening and annoy- 
ing movement of the lenses. Many attempts have been made to success- 
fully arrive at this result, but they are all more or less disadvantageous, 
and the means heretofore used have been either cumbersome or weaken the 
strength of the parts which they engage. Everyone seems to have followed 
the old plan in the use of a screw, and if someone should devise a s mple 
and positive means for securing the parts of an eyeglass without the us? 
of screws, and without detracting in the least from the strength of said 
parts, immediate adoption of such device would follow. 

88. Another prom' sing field is that of single-rail railways, commonly 
known as "mono railways." There is room for great improvements in this 
class of inventions, both in the structure of the railway itself and in cars 



made under our personal supervision by draftsmen in our 
constant employ, and every precaution is taken that the 
inventions be fully and clearly shown by different views so 
as to be readily understood by the Examiners of the Patent 
Office and comprehended by the public when the patent is 
granted. 

This book contains samples of Patent Office drawings 
showing the character of work furnished our clients. We 
make a specialty, as shown in the drawings, of illustrating the 
application of the invention, pictorially, whenever practicable. 
The value of well-executed pictorial drawings does not end 
with the proper showing of the invention for the purpose 
of the patent, but copies of the patent can be had in any 



36 John Louis Waters & Company 

quantity by the inventor for use in bringing his invention 
.before manufacturers and capitalists, and much depends upon 
the impression given by the drawings. If the invention is 
w^ell illustrated, the inventor has in his patent a suitable cut 
for use in advertising and for other purposes and photo-en- 
graved plates can be produced by us from these drawings. 
No cut will be made for less than $4.00, the cost depending 
upon the size of the cut. 

WHAT TO INVENT 

adapted thereto. Recent Kuropean experiments in mono railways have 
demonstrated the wonderful advantages of single-rail track, both in speed 
and safety ; and the near future may witness the practical development of 
this class of invention. 

89. Prairie fires. This subject offers an opportunity for inventors to de- 
vise a machine for moving over the ground surface similar to a horse-rake 
or cultivator, having means for burning the grass down to the ground for 
a space of about 8 or 10 feet in width, using gasoline to ignite the grass, 
and a train of steel brushes or other devices to extinguish the flame before 
it is permitted to spread, thus creating a fire guard. 

90. No practical device has been discovered that will utilize the power 
of the waves and the tides. The main obstacle to success in getting the 
ocean into harness has been to prov de a motor that would withstand a 



TERM OF THE PATENT 

Patents are granted in this country for the term of seven- 
teen years and no longer, during which time the patentee 
has the exclusive right to make, use, and sell the patented 
invention. 

TIME NECESSARY TO SECURE A PATENT 

It is impossible to state with certainty the time required 
to secure the allowance of patents. This varies with the 
division in the Patent Office to which the application is 
referred. There are thirty-eight of these divisions, and each 
one is more or less in arrears with its work. It usually takes, 
however, from two to three months to procure a patent. 

We make it a point to be prompt with our correspondence, 
and preparation of the requisite papers and drawings. Each 



Patent Attorneys, Washington, D. C. 37 

case is filed at the earHest possible moment, and as they 
are taken up for examination by the Patent Office officials 
in the order they were filed, there is absolutely no delay. 

JOINT APPLICATIONS 

Two or more persons may apply jointly for a patent if 
they are joint inventors. If one person is the inventor and 
the other only a partner, the patent must be applied for in 

WHAT TO INVENT 

lieavy surf. The latest attempt in this line proposes a series of submerged 
pistons worked on buoys, whose constant motion is expected to compress air. 

91. Incandescent gas lighting approaches perfection in house illumina- 
tion, and is now generally used. A serious drawback to this system of 
lighting, however, is the fragile and perishable character of the mantles 
employed. What is needed is a mantle which will not break in ordinary 
handling, or if accidentally dropped a distance of a few feet. Also one 
which will not melt or crack when exposed to the temperature of burning 
coal gas, and which will not become useless if bent out of its original shape. 

92. Women are always on the outlook for curling tongs or irons, hair 
curling devices generally, and other mechanical articles for the toilet. New 
ideas in corset, placket, glove, shoe, and hat fasteners command a ready 



the name of the inventor alone; but he may secure his part- 
ner in advance by executing a deed of conveyance so drawn 
that the patent will be issued in both names. It is of the 
greatest importance that the true position of joint appli- 
cants should be thoroughly understood by the attorney, in 
order that he may prepare the papers so as to properly 
protect the interests of both parties. If both applicants 
are inventors, they should both sign the application papers, 
but if they are joint owners merely, the inventor alone 
should sign the application papers, and assign the proper 
interest to the other party. A patent would not be valid in 
which one of the parties interested had signed the applica- 
tion papers without being a co-inventor. 



38 John Louis Waters & Company 

MANUFACTURING UNDER PATENT APPLIED FOR 

Every inventor has the right, w^hen he has an application 
for patent pending in the Patent Office, to manufacture and 
"11 his goods, and to mark them "Patent Applied For." 

It is better, however, not to exploit your invention until 
your patent issues, as there is a danger of an interference 
being declared in the Patent Office. Furthermore, in most 
foreign countries patents are granted to the first applicant, 
whether the inventor or not. and the inventor is likely to lose 

WHAT TO INVENT 

attachments for belts which prevent sagging and displace- 
-lovelties in pocketbooks, cravat and necktie holders are very 
■ht after. 

vci and sensational advertising devices, especially for store-win- 
Uiays, find ready sale. 

Means for protecting shores which will prevent the undermining of 

a'ngs situated on the beach. Every year thousands of dollars are lost 

-y reason of the breaking of the buttresses or breakwater, caused by high 

waters, which removes the foundation of buildings, and causes the collapse 

and entire loss of the same. 

95. A prolific field for the inventor is offered in the line of sul mar'ne 
vessels. Already the British and French Governments are building a num- 
ber of vessels of this class. The patent rights in all countries, excepting 
the United States, for the Hollaiid submarine boat, have been acquired by 



his right to obtain foreign patents thereon, as some one 
seeing his invention on the market in the United States may 
proceed to patent it in foreign countries. 

OBTAINING ASSISTANCE 

Where an inventor has not the means to procure a patent 
for his invention he should first consult us regarding our 
Credit System. If unable to meet the liberal terms we will 
make him to suit his case we would suggest that he en- 
deavor to interest some one in his vicinity to whom he can 
personally explain the merits of his invention, and agree to 
assign to such person a part interest therein, in consideration 
of the fees necessary to secure a patent. When this has 



Patent Attorneys, Washington, D. C. 39 

been effected we shall be glad to prepare the required assign- 
ment. Our Certificate of Patentability has been of great 
assistance to inventors without funds, as it gives the capital- 
ists the necessary assurance of patentability to justify them 
in advancing the necessary money. In order to protect your 
interests while seeking to interest capital in your invention, 
we recommend that you forward us sketches and description, 
duly, witnessed, of your invention, which we will place in 
our secret files, and in case an attempt should be made to 

WHAT TO INVENT 

the Vicker & Maxim Company; and commercial activity in this line of in- 
vention has already begun. 

96. A paste composition for friction matches, free from phosphorus, 
would revolut onize the manufacture of matches. The composition should 
offer such resistance to shocks and friction as to prevent apprehension of 
danger from explosions during the process of manufacture. It should also 
be free from chemical ingredients injurious to the health of those employed 
in the manufacture of matches. 

97. An alloy for armor plate, and a process and apparatus for making 
the same. The question of obtain'ng armor plates for forts and war ves- 
sels which shall be able to withstand the heavy projectiles which are now 
used is occupying the attention of all the principal nations of the world, 
and any improvement in this class of inventions would be readily adopted. 



pirate the invention, we would then be in a position to pro- 
tect your rights to the utmost. 

ASSIGNMENTS 

An inventor may sell and assign his invention either before 
or after application for patent has been made, or after the 
patent has been issued. He may sell or assign any portion, 
such as one-fifth or one-half interest in the patent, or a town, 
county, or State right, or he may grant the right to manu- 
facture on a royalty. If assigned before the patent is granted, 
the purchaser will enjoy the right under the patent whenever 
it is issued. Trade-marks, copyrights, and labels can also 
be assigned. 



40 John Louis Waters & Company 

Every assignment affecting the title of a patent, trade- 
mark, or label must be recorded in the United States Patent 
Office. Assignments of copyrights have to be recorded with 
the Librarian of Congress. Those who desire to have as- 
signments of patents or licenses, or assignments for trade- 
marks, labels, or copyrights drawn in proper form and 
recorded, will please communicate with us, stating the full 
names and residences of the parties, the shares to be con- 
veyed, the title of the invention, and if already patented, the 

WHAT TO INVENT 



98. For years various inventors have been attempting to secure a substi- 
tute for the razor. Recently a Frenchman thought he had solved the prob- 
lem, but after his device and an electro-chemical combination had been 
used in the barber shop a few days, the customers discovered that the in- 
strument burned and blackened their chins, and the inventor was obliged 
to flee before their rage. Neverthelss, there is a fortune for the inventor 
who discovers a harmless substitute for shaving. 

99. Novel devices or structures, on the order of merry-go-rounds, tobog- 
gan slides, and the Ferris wheel, for use at summer resorts, fairs and 
expositions, are always in demand, and, as a rule, are very profitable. The 
most recent inventions in this line are the centrifugal railway, in which a 
car describes a circle, and is maintained on the rails by centrifugal fore; ; 
tlie "aquarama," or voyage on the rivers of the world ; and the "hotel 
topsy-turvy," in which everything appears to 1 e reversed, or upside down. 



date of the patent. Also remit $5, which is the cost of 
preparing, filing, and recording the assignment. 

THE VALUE OF ATTORNEYS 

The inventor will see the advantage to be derived from 
placing his business in tHe hands of only those who are spe- 
cially skilled in patent work and its numerous branches. 

The inventor should never endeavor to prepare his own 
a;i:>plication. He is apt to leave valuable features of his 
invention unclaimed, and attach undue importance to some 
immaterial feature. Although he may have a good education, 
and a quick perception, and some knowledge of patent mat- 



Patent Attorneys, Washington, D. C. 41 

ters, he can not have the necessary experience to insure ab- 
solute accuracy. This work should be done by a skilled and 
experienced patent lawyer. A claim properly drawn may 
mean wealth to the inventor, whereas one improperly drawn 
generally means the total loss of the invention. 

So important are the services of a reliable, trustworthy, 
and skillful attorney to inventors, that the Commissioner of 
Patents has, in the "Rules of Practice," issued this general 
warning: "As the value of patents depends largely upon 

WHAT TO INVENT 

100. Novelties in culinary utensils, or labor-saving devices for the house- 
liold, like egg beaters, vegetable parers, can openers, coffee pots, window 
or rtoor cleaners, tack pullers, carpet stretchers, sweepers, cleaners and 
heaters, dusters, polishers, cabinets, and flour and ash sifters, are always 
saleable. 

10 1. A simple device for tightening woven-wire bed springs. Anyone 
who has used these kind of bed springs knows that in a short time the wire 
stretclies or springs, causing a sagging in certain parts of the bed. A de- 
vice which will provide means for overcoming this objection is very much 
desired. 

102. A druggists' prescription file which will enable prescriptions to be 
compactly filed away in regular order, kept clean, and at the same time 
rendered qviickly accessible for several years back, so that any desired 
prescription may be readily found, removed and replaced w-thout disturb- 
ing others. 



the careful preparation of the specification and claims, tlie 
assistance of a competent counsel will, in most cases, be of 
advantage to the applicant, but the value of their services 
will be proportionate to their skill and honesty, and too much 
care cannot be exercised in their selection." 

HOW TO SEND MONEY 

In remitting to us always register letters containing money 
in the form of bills and fractional currency. Money orders, 
bank drafts, express orders, and personal checks are the 
safest methods of transmitting payments when letters are 
not registered. Never enclose remittances with models, as 



42 



John Loiiis Waters & Company 




Patent Attorneys, Washington, D. C. 43 

there is great risk of same being lost in transit. Make all 
checks payable to John Louis Waters & Co. If these sug- 
gestions are followed, the safe delivery of money to us is 
almost guaranteed. 

THE SALE OF PATENTS. 

Having a keen interest in the success of our clients who 
have become possessed of patents through our efforts, we 
have made an exhaustive study to ascertain the most effective 
course to be pursued by inventors in order to make an ad- 

WHAT TO INVENT 

103. A practical niacliine for scaling fish is also an invention whicli 
ought to prove successful, as this work is now done altogether by hand. 
In large establismments for the handling and canning of fish some rapid 
and labor-saving means for removing the scales or cleaning fish are de- 
manded. 

104. A wash basin having means for closing and opening the discharge 
therein without the necessity of inserting the hand into the water contained 
in the basin. Some simple device which w 11 take the place of the ordi- 
nary plug and chain, and will add little or nothing to the expense, is what 
is desired. 

105. Owing to the destruction of forests, and the growing scarcity of 
wooden ties, a demand has arisen for a substitute. Metal ties have been 
used for some time on European railways. Tt would seem that some kind 

.of a hollow steel tie, filled with cement or some other practical construc- 
tion, would fill the need. 



vantageous sale of their patents. After considering a large 
number of ways of bringing a patented invention to the atten- 
tion of prospective buyers, we have reached the conclusion 
that this end can be most quickly and easily reached by 
two methods which stand head and shoulders above all 
others, that have been considered, and which offer a large 
possibility of success if persisted in. 

First. Personal presentation of the invention by the in- 
ventor to those manufacturers, financiers, and other persons 
known to be interested in devices of the class covered by 
the inventor's patent, and in whom the inventor has full 
confidence, such confidence to be based on the well-known 



44 John Louis Waters & Company 

business reputation of the parties. As a rule, an inventor 
will find these classes of people very receptive, and always 
willing to consider the purchase of protective improvements 
in devices, which will enable them to produce their wares 
more cheaply, or of better quality, as they thereby secure a 
monopoly of a cheaper, superior, or improved article in the 
competitive fight for business. 

Second. That of conducting correspondence with estab- 
lished manufacturers who produce articles of the class to 

WHAT TO INVENT 

io6. One of the things which the average street railway manager is in 
search of is a satisfactory convertible car, which will save him the neces- 
sity of doubling his equipments and of providing storage room for the 
closed cars in summer and the open cars in w nter. Experiments should 
be along the line of convenient disposition of the seats and the replacement 
of the ordinary side cru'tains which are of very little protection in wet 
weather. Some simple means of temporar ly collapsing or throwing out of 
use of window sections so that they may be readily drawn into operative 
position will be a step in the direction of solving the problem. 

107. Anyone who can invent a process which will save half a cent a ton 
on the present system of loading coal into ocean steamers shovild be able 
to sell his invention for a very large sum. Among the great needs of the 
Navy is some easier method of coaling ships at sea from colliers, especially 
when the sea is rough. A method that would accomplish th's result witli 



which the patent relates. This course is extremely advan- 
tageous to inventors who feel that they do not possess suf- 
ficient qualifications to properly present their inventions by 
personal solicitation and who do not feel inclined to trust 
others with such an important duty. A properly worded 
letter addressed to a responsible manufacturer, setting forth 
the practical and meritorious advantages of the patent, to- 
gether with a copy of said patent, will most invarial^ly de- 
mand attention. In order to assist our clients in this respect 
we will prepare for them a letter adapted for use in corre- 
spondence with manufacturers in presenting their particular 
inventions for sale, at a cost of $5. 

We are also able to compile and furnish extensive lists of 
manufacturers in various lines who are most likely to be in- 



Patent Attorneys, Washington, D. C. 45 



THREE WORLD RENOWNED TRADE-MARKS 



SAPOUO 



Old Dutch 

Cleanser 



Chase* 
Dirt 




MAKES EVEfTfTHINQ 
«PICK AND SPAI*^ 



Uneeda 



The above Trade-Marks are known to practically 
every man, woman and child in the United States. 
The aggregate value of these marks is computed in 
the millions. 



46 



John Louis Waters & Company 



terested in the purchase of patents relating to those lines. 
Prices on lists to cover your invention will be furnished on 
request. 

If requested to do so we are only too glad to advertise 
your patent (after it is allowed) AT OUR OWN EXPENSE 
in any one of the following important newspapers. While 
this method is adopted by a number of patent attorneys, we 
consider that much better and quicker results should be 
obtained through either of the plans suggested above: 

WHAT TO INVENT 

more ease than it is now accomplished, would do as much to improve the 
eflficiency of a fleet of battleships as would an improvement in the making 
of armor or the invention of a more efficient gun than is now known. 

io8. Liquid blacking is much more convenient to apply to boots or s'loes 
than the solid blacking or paste, but most of the devices for handling it 
hitherto produced are not easy to manipulate, the common practice being 
to apply the liquid with a sponge attached to a wire inserted in the cork 
of the bottle. Attempts have been made to arrive at a successful use of 
liquid blacking in connection with a brush, but like most original inventions 
this class is subject to a wide range of improvements and affords an oppor- 
tunity for an inventive mind to produce a simple and effective brush con- 
struction for applying liquid blacking. 

109. Any improvement tending to the amelioration of the condition of 
those who delve in the bowels of the earth for their bread would be a boon 



New York Herald 
New York World 
Minneapolis Tribune 
New Orleans Times 
Milwaukee Sentinel 
Detroit News 
San Antonio Light 
Washington Times 
Los Angeles Times 
Cleveland Plain Dealer 
Pittsburgh Dispatch 



Cincinnati Enquirer 
Denver Post 
Boston Globe 
Indianapolis Star 
Portland Oregonian 
Baltimore American 
Des Moines Register 
Kansas City Star 
Omaha World Herald 
Dallas News 
San Francisco Call 



St. Louis Globe Democrat 
Seattle Post-Intelligencer 
Chicago Record Herald 



Patent Attorneys, Washington, D. C. 47 

It is also worth mentioning that as soon as your patent 
has been allowed by the Patent Office it will be listed in the 
Official Gazette of the U. S. Patent Office, together with an 
illustration taken from your official drawings. This Gazette 
is the largest and most important patent publication, is issued 
by the Government and has a tremendous circulation among 
manufacturers, promoters, and inventors all over the world. 

Under no circumstances can we personally undertake the 
sale of patents. If we attempted such a policy it would 

WHAT TO INVENT 

to humanity. The prevention of explosions from fire damp, and the purifi- 
cation of the unwholesome atmosphere of the mines, are subjects worthy of 
the attention of the thinker and inventor, not only from the humane stand- 
point, but also from a business point of view. Mine owners are quick to 
adopt practical ideas looking to the comfort or safety of their operatives, 
or adapted to facilitate the work of mining. 

no. A mechanical device or machine for plucking feathers from fowls 
would form a commercially valuable invention if constructed to operate 
efficiently and pract'cally. Such a machine should comprise means for 
completely removing the feathers and ejecting the fowl from the machine 
thoroughly picked and ready for dressing. 

III. A device by means of which a hat, coat or umbrella may be hung 
up with security from thieves is something which has not yet been suc- 



require almost our undivided attention and result in the 
sacrifice of the interests of the vast number of clients to 
whom we have obligated ourselves to secure for them the 
full measure of protection on their respective inventions. We 
can not afford to do this. A reputable patent firm can per- 
form but one duty and perform it well. We are not patent 
selling agents, we are patent attorneys. 

We wish to impress upon inventors that the successful dis- 
posal of a patent is not always accomplished in a week or a 
month. Many inventions, figuratively speaking, are ahead 
of the times. They are so far in advance of the present state 
of progress that their real worth is not recognized until sev- 
eral years after the issuance of the patents on same. But 
depend upon it, a meritorious invention will eventually score, 



48 John Louis Waters & Company 

and score heavily. All you have got to do with a meritorious 
invention at your back is to keep everlastingly at it, and you 
may rest assured that we will gladly cooperate with you 
in any way we can, in helping you dispose of any patents we 
secure for you. 

TRANSFERS OF PATENT RIGHTS 

Closely related to the subject of how to sell a patent or cer- 
tain rights thereunder is the subject of the different ways 
in which the rights under a patent may be transferred. This 

WHAT TO INVENT 



cessfully developed. An effective and comparat'vely simple invention in 
this line would be one of value, and one which would be readily adopted. 
Security is the prime consideration, but expense and ease of manipulation 
are factors not to be ignored. 

112. One of the most profitable fields of invention at the present t'me is 
a smoke consumer for stoves and furnaces. If one knows the composition 
of smoke and understands that it is merely unconsumed flakes of carbon 
floating in non-combustible gases he need not be a chemist to see tliat 
smoke abatement is merely a question of fuel. If soft coal was perfectly 
consumed the gases that escape through the chimney would be colorless ; 
that is, there would be no carbon or soot in them and hence no smoke. It 
is obvious that this line of invention lays open a valuable territory and 
encourages inventors to experiment and to cover by patent every field re- 
lating to improvements in stoves and furnaces with this end in view. 



may be accomplished by a straight assignment, unlimited 
license, shop license, territorial grant and a royalty agree- 
ment. Which of these should be utilized depends on the 
circumstances surrounding each particular case. We will be 
pleased to advise our clients on this subject upon receipt 
of full information as to the particular conditions con- 
fronting them. . 

Our charge for preparing and recording ordinary assign- 
ments is $5. In cases of more complicated agreements this 
charge is subject to slight increase, the amount of which our 
client will be fully advised on before we proceed. 



Patent Attorneys, Washington, D. C. 49 

PATENTS FOR COMPOUNDS, ETC. 

Cleaning and Polishing Compounds, Cements, Metal Alloys, 
Soaps, Leather Dressings, Fertils and Medicines, Hair Dress- 
ings, Cosmetics, Ointments and the like; in short, all useful 
liquid and solid mixtures may be patented. 

Instances can be multiplied wherein Patents on new dis- 
coveries in this line of invention have made millionaires of 
their owners. Patented medicines such as "Green's August 
Flower," "Perry Davis' Pain Killer," "Ayers' Cherry Pec- 
toral," "Hood's Sarsaparilla," "Paine's Celery Compound," 

WHAT TO INVENT 



113. Notwithstanding the wonderful development of improvements in 
railway construction and equipment during the past quarter of a century, 
this field of invention is still an attractive one for the inventor. With re- 
spect to the locomotives, economy in fuel is an important consideraion, and 
inventions looking to the consumption of the products of combustion, and 
the arresting of sparks and cinders, are in demand. Improvements which 
increase the safety of trains are also of value, and, if practical, can be 
readily placed. In connection with railway inventions, it may be Sug- 
gested that apparatus for weighing the cars of a train with reasonable ac- 
curacy while moving either separately or loosely coupled, is something 
which railway companies need, and would doubtless promptly adopt. Car 
heating and ventilation, devices for improving the roadbed and track 
structures, are all subjects to which the inventor can profitably direct his 
ingenuity. 



and many others are examples, while useful compounds like 
"Sapoiio," "Electro-Silicon," "Rising Sun Stove Polish," arid 
"Ivory Soap," iare "household gods'' in our owtl and forelgii 
lands ahd haVe netted immense fortunes. 

The total cost of a Patent in this class of cases is $60, $2^ 
of which is the attorney's fee, and upon receipt of thdt 
amount, together with a statement of the quantity and name 
and particular purpose of each ingredient used and the m^n= 
ner of compounding same, as well as a statement of the 
use of the complete preparation, we prepare the application 
papers complete, and forward same for your approval and 
execution, to be returned to us with the first Government 



50 John Louis Waters & Company 

fee of $15. The final Government fee of $20 may be paid 
any time within six months from the date of allowance. 

Double protection and business advantage is secured by 
also adopting a Trade-Mark and registering the same in the 
United States Patent Ofifice. 

Term of Patent, seventeen years. 

Term of Trade-Mark, twenty years. 

DESIGN PATENT 

The law authorizing the issue of design patents is very 
broad. These patents may be granted to any person, who, 



WHAT TO INVENT 



114. A reliable automatic gas governor, which may be attached to a 
meter for regulating the flow of gas through the meter, and preventing the 
waste thereof. Most of the devices of this kind now on the market are 
unsatisfactory, because they requ're constant attention and become inoper- 
ative after having been in use a short time. A simple, inexpensive and 
efTective gas governor would meet with a ready sale. 

115. To penetrate the fog at sea has always been and still is a problem, 
and a fortune awaits the so.ver of this problem. Audible s gnals, such as 
alarm whistles, have been insufficient, and a new idea must be evolved in 
whicli the audible signal will be eliminated or combined w'th other safe- 
guards. While no specific suggestion can 1 e oft'ered. it is probable tliat 
electricity will play an important part in t'.-.e successful working out of this 
important matter. 

ti6. There is an actual dempnd for a simple, inexpensive voting device, 
adapted for the use of legislative bodies. The adoption of such an inven- 



by his own industry, genius, ef¥ort. and expense, has invent- 
ed or produced any new and original design for a manufac- 
ture, bust, statue, altorelievo or bas-relief; any new or 
original design for the printing of woolens, silk, cotton, or 
other fabrics; any new and original impression, ornament, 
pattern, print or picture to be printed, painted, cast, or other- 
wise placed on c r marked into any article of manufacture: 
or any new. useful, or original ornamentation of any article 
of manufacture, the same not having been known or used 
by others before his invention or production thereof, or 
patented or described in any printed publication. 



Patent Attorneys, Washington, D. C. gl 

All new designs should be protected. Design patents for 
the pattern of a machine, or designs on a machine, can be 
secured in addition to a mechanical patent for the machine 
itself. These patents are never issued for mechanical de- 
vices but only for ornamental features. 

In a number of instances large business interests have been 
built up w^ith a design patent as a basis. 

Design patents have been liberally construed by the courts. 
They hold that such a patent covers not only what is shown 
in the patent, but also those things which have a near enough 
resemblance to appear the same to ordinary observers. 

WHAT TO INVENT 

tion by the Congress of the United States has been agitated for some time, 
and has probably only been delayed by the non-appearance of a voting ma- 
chine or system answering the requirements as to simplicity, accuracy, and 
expense. It requires about forty-five minutes to call the roll in the House 
of Representatives, and the time and expense thus involved in the course 
of a session can readily be estimated. The inventor who solvea this prob- 
lem will be amply rewarded. 

117. To scrape a ship's bottom without the delay and expense of dry- 
docking presents a problem to inventors, the solution of which will mean 
profit to the originator and a revolution in marine repairs. The foul'ng of 
ships by barnacles and sea waste is a source of constant concern to navi- 
gators, and the expense of dry-docking is an important item. To free ships 
from the incubus of the sea has always been a thing desired, and sooner 
or later a practical method of accomplishing this while the vessel is afloat 
may be devised. 



The total cost of a design patent, including Government 
and attorney's fees, and one sheet of drawing, is; 

Attorney's Fee Gov't Fee Total 

Patent for 3>^ years $20 00 $10 00 $30 oO 

"7 " 20 00 15 00 35 00 

"14 " 20 00 30 00 50 CO 

TRADE-MARKS 

The new Trade-Mark Law passed by Congress, and which 
went into efifect April i, 1905, makes it imperative for every 
one who values the protection of his trade-mark to register 
under this law. 



^2 John Louis Waters & Company 

Under its terms, all trade-marks, whether registered at 
Washington or a Bureau, must be re-registered at Washing- 
ton in order to obtain protection under the new law. 

Heretofore injunctions of courts did not apply outside the 
immediate section where they were granted. Under the new 
law, an injunction once secured in any Federal Court ex- 
tends its force throughout every State and Territory in the 
Union. 

It is further provided that before granting registration the 
Commissioner shall cause the trade-mark to be published at 

WHAT TO INVENT 

ii8. Wheels, axles, bridges, and rails have all been strengthened to carry 
their increased loads ; but, strange to say, the splices which hold in place 
the ends of the rails, and which are really short-span bridges, are now the 
weakest part of a railway. The angle-bar splice has but one-third of the 
strength of the rail, and its strength cannot be increased, owing to its want 
of depth. Joints go down under every passing wheel, and the ends of the 
rails wear otat long before the rest. 

119. The electrical storage battery is the generator of the immediate 
future. The brush battery employs lead plates which necessarily require a 
considerable generation for their own transportation. The weight of the 
battery is its barrier to commercial success. The new Edison battery, 
which is the most recent improvement in this line, substitutes thin steel 
plates for lead, and the -plates are perforated to receive cells containing 
compressed parcels of mixed iron and graphite for the positive electrode, 
and nickel and graphite for the negative electrode. The electrolytic fluid 



least once in the Official Gazette of the Patent Office, and 
any person who believes that he would be damaged by the 
registration may oppose the same by filing notice of opposi- 
tion, stating the ground thereof within thirty days after the 
publication of the mark sought to be registered. 

The latter provision enables the true owner of the trade- 
mark to prevent his right to its exclusive use from being 
jeopardized by the registration of the same or a similar mark 
by an applicant who may not be entitled to registration. 

The right of appeal is provided, the same as in the case of 
applications for patents, from an adverse decision of the 
Examiner of Trade-Marks or the Examiner of Interferences, 



Patent Attorneys, Washington, D. C. 53 

as the case may be, to the Commissioner in person, and from 
the Commissioner to the, Court of Appeals of the District 
of Columbia, 

The life of a certificate of registration is changed from 
thirty years to twenty years, but the certificate of registration 
may be renewed from time to time upon certain conditions, 
and upon the payment of the required fee. The Government 
fee for registration is reduced from $25 to $10. 

Registration will afiford prima facie evidence of ownership, 
and any person using any registered trade-mark without the 

WHAT TO INVENT 

is a solution of potash, which does not affect the containing vessel and pre- 
serves its quality. It is claimed for the battery, as a result of prolonged 
and severe tests, that it will render two or three times as much, service as 
the same weight of the ordinary lead battery. 

120. During the past few years a new field has been opened for inven- 
tors. To produce realistic stage effects, mechanism is required, and a num- 
ber of patents have been recently granted in this line of invention. Ex- 
amples of these are the patents of Neill Burgess on mechanism for pro- 
ducing the horse race in the "County Fair," and the apparatus employed 
in the play of "Ben Hur" for the illustration of the chariot race. Any in- 
vention of merit in this line will be readily adopted, and perhaps no class 
of patented devices is more profitable. 

121. This field has been extensively exploited, but new toys are always 
in demand. Simplicity is to be kept in view in toys, as the cost of manu- 



consent of the owner thereof will be liable for damages, and 
on the rendition of a verdict for the plaintiff, the court, in its 
discretion, may enter judgment for three times the amount of 
such verdict. 

The new law afifords additional remedies and more com- 
plete and adequate protection, and in order to give the 
owners of trade-marks previously registered the enlarged 
benefits under the new law, the act makes provision for the 
re-registration of said trade-marks upon payment of the 
fees. • 

Provision is made for the first time for registering trade- 
marks used solely jn Interstate Commerce, and the new law 



54 John Louis Waters & Company 

is so far-reaching and complete in its protection to lawful 
trade-mark owners that registration of a trade symbol or 
mark will prove of great value from a commercial standpoint. 
A trade-mark may consist of any non-descriptive word or 
words, sign, symbol, picture, autograph, monogram, or any 
combination of any or all of them. Descriptive words can 
not be registered; for instance, "Washing Soap" or "Can 
Corn" could not be registered, but descriptive words com- 
bined with non-descriptive words may be registered; thus. 

WHAT TO INVENT 

facture is an item of first importance. However, in the line of electrically- 
operated toys which convey an elementary knowledge of electricity the cost 
is of secondary consideration, novelty and originality Ijcing the essentials. 
In Germany the manufacture of toys is an important industry, and it 's 
also an item of importance in this country. As expensive plants are ordi- 
narily not required for the manufacture of toys, patents in this line are 
eas ly marketed. 

122. A fortune awaits the man who will invent a good substitute for 
leather. Nobody has yet succeeded in approaching it, unless it be an in- 
ventor who has patented a fabric which he proposes to use, in particular, 
as a material for the inner soles of shoes and boots, though t may be em- 
ployed for other purposes. It resembles what is known as split sole leather, 
but is much cheaper, and claims to be superior, being waterproof, as well 
as stronger. The manufacturer of this imitation leather uses the fine sole- 



"Eureka Washing Soap" and "Excelsior Can Corn" are prop- 
erly registerable. 

Sometimes words which are descriptive are combined in 
a single word and phonetically or fancifully spelled, and in 
such cases they usually constitute a valid trade-mark, l)ut it 
is the figure or emblem that makes the mark valid. A word 
can be adopted for the trade-mark which is suggestive, but 
not descriptive, and this is often the best kind of a mark 
for particular kinds of goods. The mere name of the appli- 
cant can not be registered, but his name, together with a 
device or design, etc., is entitled to registration. Geographi- 
cal names can not be trade-marked. 

A trade-mark need not be new or original, but it should be 
new to the purpose to which it is applied. Thus a trade-mark 



Patent Attorneys, Washington, D. C. 55 

oil "The Rising Sun," applied to flour, wouUl not prevent the 
registration of the same words as applied to stove polish. 

Persons desiring to know whether certain words or devices 
can be registered should send us a copy or description of the 
mark and the class of merchandise on which it is used, in- 
cluding a particular description of the goods comprised in 
such class. Five dollars should also be sent as a guarantee 
of good faith with the above data. We will then make a 

WHAT TO INVENT 

leather dust given off liy tlie buffing rolls used upon sole katlier. Ilit'ierto 
tliis dust has been a waste product, but the new invention combines it with 
gum and employs it in this shape to form a coating on one or both sides 
of canvas or other similar fabric. .\s it dries a sprinkling of dry leather 
dust is added, and the fabric thus treated is passed between rollers, so as 
to cause the leather dust to be firmly imbedded in the fabric and combined 
with it. 

123. Inventors keep pace with the times, and encourage new "fads" 
This is demonstrated by the large number of patents recently granted on 
golf sticks and paraphernalia used in the game of golf. The latest diver- 
sion in men's apparel is the shirt waist, and this demands a substitute for 
suspenders. The belt has been universally adopted for summer wear by 
men, but it falls short both in appearance and comfort. The lucky in- 
ventor who devises a satisfactory substitute for suspenders will reap a rich 
liarvest. 



search of the trade-mark records in the United States Patent 
Office and send a full report of the result of the examina- 
tion. We will not make any charge for this search if a trade- 
mark is registered through us, but will credit the $5 advanced 
on our fee. 

In order that we may be enabled to prepare the application 
papers we should be furnished with the name of the owner, 
and if a firm be the proprietor, the names of the individual 
members thereof, their residences, and places of business. 
Five specimens of the trade-mark as used must be filed with 
the specification and drawings in the United States Patent 
Office. The right to the use of a trade-mark is assignable 
in writing and such assignment should be recorded in the 
Patent Office. We prepare these assignments, the cost of 
preparation and recording being $5. 



56 John Louis Waters & Company 

COST OF TRADE-MARK 

The Government fee in each case is $io, while our fee, 
including one sheet of drawings and the preparation of the 
necessary papers, is $15 in original cases, and $10 in cases 
where application is made for re-registration. 

TRADE-MARK MUST BE USED CONTINUOUSLY. 

A trade-mark is good only so long as it is used, and it must 
be used continuously by the owner in business, and the 
owner must have for sale the goods bearing the mark. 

WHAT TO INVENT 

124. The greatest invent'ons are not necessarily the most profitable. 
Small articles which may be cheaply made, and sold at a small price, are 
usually the most ready producers of profit. The public demands novelties, 
and the inventor must supply them. It may be a difficult matter to find a 
manufacturer and capitalist to promote a complicated machine, however 
meritorious, but comparatively easy to place a patent for a sniple novelty 
which may be manufactured at little expense. 

125. A successful scheme for paving alongside street-car tracks is needed. 
Repairs to the paving next the rails is one of the largest items of main- 
tenance of way. The vibration due to the speed of the heavy cars shatters 
the edges of the pavement and the rain and weather do the rest. 

126. Tables have been invented for ©cean steamers that purport to 
maintain an equilibrium of the articles contained thereon. These have gen- 
erally been constructed to swing or sway, but the movements have been so 



TRADE-MARKS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES 

Trade-marks can be registered in foreign countries having 
treaties with the United States. The total cost of procuring 
trade-marks in foreign countries is as follows: 

Great Britain $jo.oo 

Germany 30.00 

France 25.00 

Austria ^ o. ( o 

Russ'a 40.00 

Italy 35.00 

Spain 30.00 

Belgium 30.00 

Norway 35-oo 

Sweden 35-00 

Denmark 3S.oo 

Switzerland 25.00 

Canada , 40.00 



Patent Attorneys, Washington, D. C. 57 

COPYRIGHTS 

The author, inventor, designer, or proprietor of a book, 
map, chart, dramatical or musical composition, engraving, 
cut, print, photograph, or negative thereof, or of a painting, 
drawing, chromo, statue, statuary, or of a model or design, 
and the executors, administrators or assigns of any such 
person, may obtain a copyright therefor; and such authors, 
inventors, designers, or proprietors, and their assigns, shall 
have the exclusive right to produce, dramatize and translate 

WHAT TO INVENT 

abrupt that they are not practical for the purpose, and the way is open for 
someone to devise a simple table of this character having an easy move- 
ment without jar or vibration. 

127. An apparatus for aerial navigation. Great strides have been made 
in this art recently, and a number of partially successful devices have been 
invented. There is still room for improvement, however, and the value for 
war purposes of some machine which may be propelled through the air 
cannot be overestimated. The Patent Office will not grant patents in this 
class unless the machines are provided with balloon or similar attachments, 
unless a working model 's furnished. M. Santos-Dumont recently won the 
prize of $20,000 offered for the discovery of a dirigible balloon, by c'rcling 
the Eiflfel Tower, in Paris, with his airship. He flew h'gh, low, in straight 
lines, and curves, with the wind against him, precisely as he willed. He 
proved himself master of the air as truly as the navigator of a steamship 
is master of the waves. 



any of their w^orks for which copyright shall have been 
obtained under the laws of the United States. 

To obtain a copyright, the title, or description, of the 
article or book must be filed with the Librarian of Congress 
on or before the day of publication, and to complete the 
copyright, two copies of the article or book must be delivered 
to the librarian not later than the day of publication. 

Our entire charge for obtaining a copyright is $5- Copy- 
rights, like mechanical patents, may be assigned to another 
party, and our charge for preparing and recording- such .15- 
signment is ^5, 



58 John Louis Waters & Company 

LABELS AND PRINTS 

Labels and prints for every kind of article of manufacture 
may be secured to the proprietor thereof by registration in 
the Patent Office if they are the result of that degree of 
intellectual labor contemplated by the constitution and the 
copyright laws. A print is a pictorial illustration designed 
to be used for articles of manufacture to serve as an adver- 
tisement thereof. Prints may be impressed or stamped upon 
articles of manufacture, or upon a piece of paper to be at- 
tached to such articles, or to bottles, boxes, or packages 
containing them. Labels consist of devices or words intended 
to indicate the things to which they are attached. Both 

WHAT TO INVENT 

128. Government officials are studying constantly to devise rapid means 
for transporting the mail for the convenience of the public. A system by 
which letters, instead of being dropped into stationary boxes, can be placed 
into receptacles and carried by electricity or pneumatic power to the post- 
office should solve the problem. 

129. Dispatching or block signaling on electric railroads is, strange to 
say, considerably behind the perfection reached on steam railroads, and 
quest'ons connected with signaling or controlling the traffic at meeting 
points are among the most serious now engaging the attention of the man- 
agers of the inter-urban lines. There are two general ways of dealing with 
this problem, first by telegraphic dispatching, and second by electric block 
signals, automatic or otherwise. The possibility of using the tracks for 
signaling purpose on steam roads gives an immense advantage over electric 
roads in automatic signaling. The block system used on some electric 



prints and labels, in order to be entitled to registry, must be 
intellectual productions in the degree required by the copy- 
right law. 

Under the rules of the Patent Office, a print or label can 
not be registered if it bears a device capable of application 
as a trade-mark until after such device is registered as a 
trade-mark. 

Our charge for effecting registration of a label or print is 
$20 which includes the Government fee of $6. We should 
be supplied with ten copies of the label or print to be regis- 
tered. 



Patent Attorneys, Washington, D. C. 59 

COPIES OF PATENTS 

We can furnish our clients with printed copies of the speci- 
fications, claims, and drawings of any patent which has been 
issued and the supply of which has not been exhausted in 
the United States Patent Office, at a cost of 10 cents each. 
Remittance should be made with the order and the number 
of the patent should be given. 

COPIES OF SPECIFICATIONS AND CLAIMS 
BEFORE ISSUE 

Whenever a client desires typewritten copies of his specili- 
cation and claims in a pending application, for the purpose 

WHATTOINVENT 

railroads is not practically feas ble by reason of the necessity of rail in- 
sulation in ground structures. On lines with dirt ballast and where one 
rail of the track cannot be spared from the return circviit for the purpose 
of signaling, this plan is not ava'lable. The discovery of a simple and 
practical signaling device or mechanism for electric railroads will prove a 
source of material income to the successful inventor. 

130. In connection with sea travel, another avenue to wealth is open to 
inventors, for second only in importance to preventing collisions and acci- 
dents at sea is the loss of life which results from such accidents. While 
lifeboats of various construction and of more or less merit are now carried 
as part of the equipment of sea-going vessels, perfection in this line has by 
no means been reached, and there is an absolute demand for meritorious 
and practical improvements in th's line. Any invention which will add to 
tl^e present safeguards for ocean travelers should be successful, financially, 
as well as a contribution to the cause of humanity. 



of making others acquainted with his invention, or in seeking" 
iinancial assistance with which to apply for foreign patents, 
we will be pleased to furnish same at a reasonable cost, which 
is $1.50 in the case of an ordinary application. 

In this connection we are able to furnish prints of the 
drawings in a pending application at a cost of 25 cents for 
every print of each sheet of drawing. 

REJECTED APPLICATIONS 

xA.fter the filing of an application in the Patent Office, it is 
taken up for examination by the Primary Examiner in the 



6o John Louis Waters & Company 

regular order in which it was filed. He may either allow or 
reject the application. .Rejection of the application may be 
based on either lack of patentable subject-matter, utility, or 
other causes having to do with the question of patentability. 
Rejection, however, is often due to lack of ability of the at- 
torney in the presentation of the novelty and utility of the 
invention forming the subject of the application. An inventor 
who permits his invention to be presented to the Patent 
Office by an unskilled attorney simply invites repeated re- 
jection of his application and can never expect the issuance 
of a patent having a scope commensurate with the novelty 
and value of his invention. 

Our long experience especially fits us to handle rejected ap- 
plications, with strong chances of favorable results, for which 
other attorneys have failed to secure an allowance. 

Our charge for making an examination of the official 
Patent Office file of a rejected application, and advising as 
to possibility of favorable termination is $5. If you have 
had an application for patent rejected by the Patent Office 
it may be due to poor handling on the part of your former 
attorney, and perhaps we could secure a patent for you. 
Upon request we will forward you the necessary power of 
attorney, and upon the return of same, together with the 
above remittance, we will promptly make the necessary 
examination of your case and forward our full report. If 
we think that your application can be successfully terminated 
we will at the same time quote our charges for completing 
the prosecution of the application to a final determination. 

If we find conditions with respect to the application favor- 
able, we will at the same time quote our total charge for com- 
pleting the prosecution of the application to a final termina- 
tion. If you order us to proceed, the $5 paid for the exam- 
ination will be applied on the total cost of completing the 
prosecution, and the examination in such an event would cost 
you nothing. 

It is important that an inventor never attempt to prosecute 
jijs own application. If he does he will soon find himself 



Patent Attorneys, Washington, D. C. 61 

completely swamped owing to his lack of experience and 
unfamiliarity with the essential features of the patent prac- 
tice to master which requires years of experience and close 
application. The Patent Office recognizes the inability of 
inventors to prosecute their own applications as is evidenced 
by Rule 17 of its Official Rules of Practice, as follows: 

"Rule 17. An applicant or assignee of an entire interest 
may prosecute his own case, but he is advised, unless familiar 
with such matters, to employ a competent attorney, as the 
value of a patent depends largely upon the skillful prepara- 
tion of the specifications and claims." 

REISSUES 

If, by reason of a defective or insufficient specification, a 
patent is inoperative or invalid, provided the error arose 
from inadvertence, accident or mistake, and without fraudu- 
lent intent, a reissue of the patent may be had for the unex- 
pired part of its term. 

At the time of making an application for a reissue, the 
original patent must be surrendered. The cancellation of 
the original patent takes efifect from the date of the reissue. 
If the reissue is refused the original patent is returned on re- 
quest and the patent stands as if no application for a reissue 
had been made. 

Frequently reissues are more difficult to obtain than the 
original patent. However, if after a patent has been issued 
the inventor, he feels that it does not carry the protection 
to which he is entitled, we will be pleased at a reasonable 
cost to advise him if a reissue, seeking to enlarge the scope 
of his patent, would be successful. 

The Government fee for a reissue is $30, and our attorney's 
fee, in ordinary cases involving one sheet of drawing, $25. 

FOREIGN PATENTS 

The United States Patent Laws apparently contemplate 
that an invention patented here is also worthy of protection 
abroad, in the principal countries at least. In many coun- 
tries a Patent obtained after the invention is patented else- 



62 John Louis Waters & Company 

where is invalid and worthless. For this reason it is of 
vital consequence that Foreign Patents be applied for before 
the final Government fee, for the United States Patent, is 
paid into the Patent OfBce. 

Our laws provide a period of six months after your appli- 
cation is allowed at any time within which the final Govern- 
ment fee may be paid, thus enabling you to complete financial 
arrangements for the taking out of valid Foreign Patents. 
Your allowed United States application is held secret until 
the final Government fee is paid, so that no one can apply in 
foreign countries ahead of you. 

For the convenience of inventors the countries foremost in 
importance are treated here and costs stated. If your United 
States Patent application required more than one sheet of 
drawings, add $5 for each sheet in excess of one, to the 
amount quoted for each country. 

CANADA 

Owing to the close proximity of Canada to the United 
States and the brisk and augmenting commercial intercourse 
between the two peoples, every inventor should avail himself 
of the great advantage to be gained by taking out a Canadian 
Patent. 

Canada embraces the provinces of British Columbia, Nova 
Scotia, Prince Edward's Island, Manitoba, Ontario, New 
Brunswick, and the Northwest Territory, a vast domain 
greater in area than the United States. 

The whole outlay required to secure a Canadian Patent is 
$35, which includes the Government tax, agency, and aJ 
charges for the patent. 

Important. — Unless you can file your application in Can- 
ada within three months from date of your United States 
Patent you should not fail to lodge a "Notice of Intention 
to. Apply." Otherwise you can not stop anyone who com- 
menced the manufacture of your invention in Canada before 
issuance of Patent there. For the preparation and filing of 
the Notice our charge is $5. We would advise that you file 



Patent Attorneys, Washington, D. C. 63 

application for Patent within three months from issue of 
United States Patent, and thereby save the cost of the no- 
tice. The sooner you file the better. 

ENGLAND 

The commercial importance of England is such that no 
intelligent person can fail to comprehend the momentous 
benefits to be realized from patenting a meritorious inven- 
tion there. The English capitalist is quick to invest liberally, 
because he well knows the ready recognition of the skill of 
our inventors in all portions of the world. 

An English Patent covers England, Scotland, Ireland, 
Wales, and the Isle of Man, aggregating a population of 
nearly forty millions. 

The total cost is $50, which includes the Government fee. 

Provisional protection endures for six months, and may 
be obtained under the English Patent laws. Total cost, $25. 
To file application complete after provisional protection and 
obtain Patent, $50. Term, fourteen years. 

FRANCE AND COLONIES 

$60. — The term of a French patent is fifteen years, and 
includes Algeria, Senegal, French Soudan, Dahomey, French 
Congo, Madagascar, French Indo China, Martinique, Guade- 
loupe, French Guiana, New Caledonia, Tahiti, etc. Next to 
England in value to the patentee is France. Her manufac- 
turers are enterprising and quick to appreciate and adopt 
inventions of American origin. 

GERMANY AND COLONIES 

$65. — The term of a German patent is fifteen years. Ger- 
man design patent, term three years, $35; extension for three 
3'ears longer, $30. German patents include Germany, Ger- 
man East and South West Africa, Kameron, and Togo Land, 
German Papua, Bismarck, Archipelago, Caroline Islands, 
Kiou-Chui, etc. Germany is progressive and is rapidly adopt- 
ing and perfecting American methods. 



64 John Louis Waters & Company 

BELGIUM 

The cost of a Belgian patent is $35; term, twenty years. 
Belgium is the manufacturing center for a large part of 
Europe, and is one of the most desirable countries in which 
an American inventor can apply for patent protection. 

Denmark, $50; term, fifteen years. 

Norway, $50; term, fifteen years. 

Sweden, $55; term, fifteen years. 

Switzerland, $50; term, fifteen years. 

Portugal, $100; term fifteen years. 

Spain, $55; term, twenty years. 

Italy, $70; term, fifteen years. 

RUSSIA 

The cost of a Russian patent is $80; term, fifteen years. A 
valid patent can be obtained in Russia after the issue of the 
United States patent. The Russian Empire includes Russia, 
Poland and Siberia, and covers the enormous territory of ten 
million square miles. Its population is three times that of 
any European country. Russia is a continent in itself, and 
is one of the most prominent fields for American inventors, 

Hungary, $60; term, fifteen years. 

Austria, $60; term, fifteen years. 

Turkey, $80; term, fifteen years. 

MEXICO 

The cost of a Mexican patent is $75; term, twenty years. 
America is now connected with all parts of Mexico by rail, 
and our commercial relations are therefore very close. Greit 
progress has been made in Mexico of late and a great number 
of factories are located there. Patents on mining machinery 
are especially valuable. 

ASIA 

India, $80; term, fourteen years. 

The patent covers all of British India, including Burmah; 
population, 300,000,000. The application should be filed 
within one year of the issue of the United States patent. 



Patent Attorneys, Washington, D. C. 65 

Ceylon, $175; term, fourteen years. 
Empire of China, $100. 
Japan, $90; term, fifteen years. 

AFRICA 
Cape Colony, $125; term, fourteen years. 
Natal, $100; term, fourteen years. 
Egypt, $125; term, same as applicant's United States Patent. 

CENTRAL AMERICA 
Honduras, $175; term, ten years . 
Nicaragua, $175; term, five to ten years. 
Costa Rica, $225; term, same as United States Patent. 

WEST INDIES 
Cuba, $70; term, seventeen years. 
Jamaica, $125. 
Trinidad, $140. 
Barbados, $100. 
Bahama Islands, $125. 

SOUTH AMERICA 

Brazil, $125; term, fifteen years. 

Argentine Republic — Patents are granted for five, ten, and 
fifteen years; cost respectively, $130, $175, and $280. 

Chili, $230; term, ten years. 

Peru, $280; term, ten years. 

United States of Columbia — Patents are granted for five, 
ten, fifteen, and twenty years; cost respectively, $140, $190, 
$240, and $290. 

THE AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH 

The Australian colonies of Victoria, New South Wales, 
Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, and West Australia 
have been formed into a commonwealth. One patent only 
is necessary now, where six formerly were required. The 
cost of the new Commonwealth patent, which is granted for 



66 John Louis Waters & Company » 

fourteen years, is $85. An inventor can not afford to neglect 
to secure a patent in the Australian Commonwealth, as the 
country is progressive and rich. On account of the gold 
and copper mining industries the population is rapidly in- 
creasing. Coal, iron, tin and other mineral wealth abounds. 
The production of wool is greater than that of any other" 
country in the world. Immense tracts of land are being 
opened to cultivation and settlement. The increasing activ- 
ity demands the introduction of inventions and labor-saving 
devices and systems of every character. The prosperity of 
Australia is evidenced by the fact that the standard of living 
and the consumption of commodities per capita are the high- 
est in the world. 

NEW ZEALAND 

The cost of a patent in New Zealand is $50; term, fourteen 
years. The same progressiveness and commercial activity 
are apparent in New Zealand as in the Australian Common- 
wealth. 

SPECIAL OFFER 

American inventors, owing to special facilities afforded, 
take out more patents in Canada, England, Germany, France, 
and Belgium than any other countries. These five countries 
will secure to the inventor the exclusive monopoly of his 
invention among one hundred and forty-five millions of the 
most enterprising and progressive people of the world. 
When patents are ordered in all of these countries at the 
same time we make a special rate of $230 for them, which, as 
will be noted, is a considerable reduction from the rates 
quoted for these countries separately. 

COMBINATION RATES 

By special arrangements with our foreign agents, we are 
able to offer reduced rates when applications in two or more 
countries are filed at the same time. The following groups 
of countries have been specially selected with a view of 
reducing the total cost to the minimum, and a comparison of 



Patent Attorneys, Washington, D. C. 67 

the charges named with those for the same countries singly 
will show the saving to the applicant: 

Great Britain, France, Belgium and Canada $170 

France, Italy and Belgium 140 

Germany, Austria and Hungary 160 

Great Britain, Germany, France and Canada 200 

Sweden, Norway and Denmark 1 50 

Brazil and Mexico 240 

Canada and Mexico 105 

The charges quoted in the above list include the total cost 
of securing patents in the respective countries. We wish to 
state with emphasis that the figures quoted include all costs, 
without any extra charge whatever for securing the foreign 
patents, including our fee. Government fees, drawings, etc. We 
make this statement because our charges are considerably 
lower than those asked by others, and our clients are con- 
tinually asking us if our fees cover the total cost for foreign 
patents. 

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS 

Select the country or countries in which you want a patent, 
and remit $5 for each country named. W^e will then send 
you application papers for approval and execution, according 
to the schedule of prices; or, if you prefer, send the full 
amount in the first remittance. 

An important exception to the rule that Foreign Patents 
must be applied for before issue of United States Patent, 
occurs when the United States Patent has issued early 
enough to admit of the filing of foreign cases within twelve 
months of the date of filing of the United States case. 

Also, issue of a Foreign Patent before applying in the 
United States will not invalidate United States Patent if ap- 
plication is filed within twelve months from date on which 
foreign application was filed. 

HOW TO GAIN PROFIT BY INVENTION 

Not everyone has InventVe Genius, but a Mviltitude of Persons who 
have Do not Give It Exercise. Others Mentally work out Valuable De- 
vices and Lack the Energy and Foresight to Patent them. Many Patented 
Inventions have Proven Worth Thousands of Dollars for Every Minute of 
Time Consumed in their Creation. 

To profit by invention one must not only create the invention, but 
make it practical, from a financial standpoint, and protect it by a Patent. 



68 John Louis Waters & Company 

The way to invent is to study how an existing device can be made to 
better answer its purpose ; or to conceive a new purpose and devise a 
mechanical means for carrying it out. The field for invention is w'thout 
bounds or limits. There are more opportunities for originating new and 
patentable, and profitable, devices today than there have ever been before, 
because it is an immutable physical law that every new condition works a 
change in other conditions requiring expedients for adapting and harmon- 
izing one condition with another. The Invention of the railway, for ex- 
ample, effected a revolution in social and industrial life throughout the 
world, and hundreds of thousands of other inventions, extending into every 
conceivable art, were a natural consequence. 

Anyone of average intelligence can determine for himself what to invert 
He needs but to study objects entering into daily use about him. There 
is room for improvement in everything, and these iiuprovements, if pat- 
ented, are bound to yield large money reward under good management. 
All patental)le inventions are regarded by the Patent Office as improve- 
ments, for tne reason that the very spirit of invention is to improve upon 
existing conditions. No doubt every reader of these lines has exclaimed, 
"Why didn't I think of it !" on seeing some simple, money-making article. 
Hundreds of such articles are patented annually. The inventors who 
"keep their eyes open," and not only think, but ACT, are justly the ones 
enriched. Ability to invent is the greatest natural endowment bestowed 
by a kind Providence. He who fails to exercise the faculty, gets no re- 
ward, and, as a rule, such go through life without finding reward in any- 
thing. 

The most wonderful feature of invention is that a mere suggestion, or 
a mental hint, of some new thing, will soon assume perfection under care- 
ful thought, and this "thinking out" process is the thing needed to attain 
success. 

The Inventor who does not ACT after he has "thought out" his inven- 
tion, has made a failure from the standpoint of profit. 

The first thing you should do after you have conceived an improvement 
is to write us, explaining your idea fully, and submit a sketch to enable us 
to make an examination as to patentability. If our report is favorable 
FILE AN APPLICATION AT ONCE- The chance to obtain a Patent 
on a meritorious invention is a BUSINESS CHANCE OF RARE VALUE. 
but, like any other good business chance, must be promptly taken advan- 
tage of to realize that value. 

After your Patent is obtained, the question as to the best way to obtain 
profit from it arises. If you are a manufacturer, or if you have had experi- 
ence in the organization of capital for the promotion of business enter- 
prises, you do not need advice. If you would sell your Patent outright, 
or by territorial allotments, the following important suggestions should be 
observed : 

Have absolutely nothing to do with patent selling agents, so called, 
who load your mail with their persuasive and deceptive letters and cir- 
culars as soon as your Patent issues. (They get your name and address 
from the Patent Office Gazette, which circulates w'dely.) This warning is 
unnecessary if you have ever had dealings with these sharks, for "a burnt 
child shuns the fire." As we cannot undertake here to expose their many 
tricks, we ask you to take our advice as it is intended — for your good — 
and SHUN them, no matter how plausible their arguments. It is a mat- 
ter of personal gratification and pride with us to have our clients realize 
abundant profit from their Patents; therefore, had we faith in these 
agencies, we would be eager to recommend them. 

A common dodge of the "Patent selling agent" 's to pretend to have 
found someone who will buy your Patent if an investigation proves its 
validity, and a certain person (who 's in league of course.) is recom- 
mended as the proper one to make the investigation, for whicli you must 
pay a good fee. But it is all a game and the buyer a myth. With hardly 



Patent Attorneys, Washington, D. C. 69 

an exception the agency claims to demand no fee until a sale is made, get- 
ting you to s'gn a contract to that eti'ect, yet at the next turn you are 
asked to send money, on one pretext or another. You may be asked by 
one of these concerns to advance money for the alleged purpose of adver- 
tising your invention in a long list of newspapers, yet very rarely is a 
Patent sold in th's way. To sum up our advice: Don't bite, no matter 
how tempting the bait. 

The value of a Patent depends upon the value of the invention as a 
marketable commodity, and if the owner would financially realize upon 
this value he inust himself, through his own resources or through his own 
and the resources of others, place the manufactured article on the mar- 
ket; or he must PROPERLY bring the patented invention to the notice 
of those likely to be interested, if he would sell the Patent outright. De- 
tails of procedure for the organization of stock companies and corporations 
for the purpose of promoting a patented invention by manufacture and 
sale are too voluminous to be set forth here. 

The majority of Inventors prefer to sell their Patents for a lump sum. 
To efifect the sale the Inventor himself may well take the matter in hand 
or enlist the advice and executive ability of sotneone personally well known 
to h'm, or a person or firm with whom he has had dealings, and whose 
reputation for reliability is widely known. The prospective purchaser must 
have the merits of the invention called to his attention, and, next to a 
personal talk with him, we regard properly conceived correspondence as 
the best means. The correspondence ought to be str'ctly business in tenor 
and not burdened with immaterial matter. The Patent, if procured through 
us, will clearly set forth the invention in all its details of structure and 
function. Mail a copy thereof to each person or firm addressed, and enclose 
a stamped envelope for reply. In our judgment it is not well to set a 
price, but sol'cit offers and accept the best, if it is reasonable. 

It is bad policy to. oflfer a Patent for sale before issue thereof. If Pat- 
ent has issued the prospective purchaser is assured that the invention is 
new and that you can give him a bona fide title. It amounts to the dif- 
ference between offering that ''n which you have acquired actual title, and 
that in which your title is only prospective. 

The strongest argument, however, against attempting sale prior to issue 
is that by making your invention public you run the r"sk of being barred 
from the procurance of valid Foreign Patents, for. in the more important 
countries, any public knowledge whatever of the invention prior to filing 
appl'cations in those countries, will invalidate Patent, even if obtained. 

Good Patents for good inventions are always saleable. 

A man obtained a Patent for a slight improvement in straw cutters, 
took a model of his invention through the Western States, and after a 
tour of eight months returned with forty thousand dollars in cash, or its 
equivalent. 

Another Inventor, in about fifteen months, made sales that brought 
h-'m sixty thousand dollars, his invention being a machine to thresh and 
clean grain. A third obtained a patent for a printing ink, and refused 
fifty thousand dollars, and, finally, sold it for about sixty thousand dollars. 

These are ordinary cases of minor inventions embracing no very con- 
siderable invent've powers, and of which hundreds go out from the Patent 
Office every year. Experience shows that the most profitable Patents are 
those which contain very little real invention, and are to a superficial 
observer of little value. 

Instances are numerous wherein the Inventor has made several millions 
of dollars from his invention. The Air-Brake, the Sewing Mach-ne, the 
Telephone and Teleg'-aph, all involve broad principles, and the original 
Patents, as well as Patents for improvements, represent an aggregate value 
so vast as to be incalculable. The very simplest patented ideas, if novel, 
useful or enterta'ning, are quick and bountiful in cash returns. Dr. Hig- 
gins received over $100,000 in cash royalties alone from his United States 



70 John Louis Waters & Company 

and Foreign Patents for the little thimble' you grasp in putting your um- 
brella up or down ; the rubber tip for lead pencils was equally valuable. 
The common lace for women's gloves was invented by a woman and has 
yielded her a vast sum. The metal heel plate, and the toe t p of metal, for 
shoes, were each worth over a million. 

USEFUL FACTS ABOUT PATENTS 

There are certain useful and important facts relating to the legal rights 
of patentees which most attorneys fail in their literature to set forth, and 
we give a number of such facts here for our patrons. 

If an invention is protected by Patent in one country it . cannot be 
manufactined in another country and imported, sold or used without license 
from the patentee. 

The law requires that a manufactured article, if patented, must be so 
marked, and the customary manner of marking is to follow the word "Pat- 
ented" by the date of the patent. No legal right exists permitting the use 
of the mark "Patented" before the patent is actually issued. Official noti- 
fication that an application for Patent is "allowed" does not therefore 
convey this right. 

The law attaches a penalty of one Inuidred dollars for each offense for 
the fraudulent use of the mark "Patented." 

If an application for Patent is on file, but not allowed, the invention 
must bear the mark "Patent Pending" or "Patent Applied For" if manu- 
factured and sold. 

A license cannot be transferred unless the instrument itself embodied 
a stipulation making it transferable. 

No one has the right to make a patented device without authority from 
the patentee, even though the maker would construct the machine solely 
for his private use and not for sale. 

After a Patent has expired it cannot be renewed, except by act of 
Congress. 

A reissue is one granted to the original patentee, his legal representa- 
tives, or the assignee of the entire interest, when the original Patent is 
invalid or inoperative by reason of a defective or insufficient specification, 
or by reason of the patentee claiming as his invention or discovery more 
than he had a right to claim as new, prov'ded the error arose through in- 
advertence, accident or mistake, and without any fraudulent or deceptive 
intention. Matter shown and described in an unexpired Patent, and wliich 
might have been lawfully claimed therein, but which was not claimed by 
reason of a defect or insufficiency in the specification, arising from inad- 
vertence, accident or mistake, and without fraud and deceptive intent, can- 
not be subsequently claimed by the patentee in a separate patent, but 
only in a reissue of the original. 

(These facts relative to Reissue of Patents are set fortli at length, in 
view of the common mistake made by inventors in construing a reissue to 
mean an extension of the Patent.) 

A Patent cannot issue to a deceased inventor, but to his legal repre- 
sentative. 

Inventions of deceased inventors may be jiatented by the legal repre- 
sentative making application therefor in due form. 

An abandoned a])i)licat on is no bar to a new application for the same 
invention by the same applicant. 

When one of several distinct inventions described and shown in an a'l- 
l)lication is not claimed therein, the issue of a patent on sucli application 
presumptively dedicates the unclaimed invention to the public. 

After an applicant lias himself prosecuted his applicat'on to final rejec- 
tion and has then placed it in the hands of an attorney, the Examiner will 
be warranted in re-oi)ening the case for tlie ;idmission and consideration 
of substitute specifications apparently presented in good faith and for the 



Patent Attorneys, Washington, D. C. 71 

purpose of securing for the inventor that to which the attorney believes 
him enitled. 

One who employs another to make an invention for him does not 
thereby become entitled to apply for and receive a patent on the invention, 
whatever may be his equitable rights in the invention and patent of liis 
employee. 

Invention does not lie in an abstract idea of the desirability of uniting 
several old machines into one, but in conceiving definitely of a single or- 
ganized and complete machine containing a combination of instrumentali- 
ties which perform the several functions of the old machine. 

An application for a patent to be issued to joint inventors must be 
signed and sworn to by all the inventors and an application for such a 
patent made by only one of such inventors cannot lie entertained, even 
although the other of such inventors already has a sole patent for the 
same invention and refuses to joiji in a joint application. 

Two may properly take out a patent as joint inventors when one of 
them originated the leading principles and the other exercised inventive 
talent in perfecting it. 

An inventor may adopt minor improvements in his invention, which 
are suggested by another, and the latter does not thereby acquire any in- 
terest in the invention. 

The Patent Office cannot permit tlie record of an application once filed 
to be in any way altered by so radical a measure as the removal of one of 
its parts, as by the transfer of drawings, to a substituted application. 

When all the parts of an application except the fee have been deposited 
in the Patent Office, they will not be returned to the applicant. 

Patent will issue jointly to an assignee and applicant when the latter 
so requests in the recorded assignment. 

An assignment regular on its face and regularly recorded must be con- 
sidered an absolute assignment until cancelled vif)on the written consent 
of both parties, or upon the decree of a competent court. 

In order to give an employer a r'ght to an invention of an employee, on 
the ground that the latter was employed to invent it for the benefit of tine 
former, it must very clearlj^ appear that such was the condition of tlie 
employment. 

If a pe^-son once conceives the main idea of an improvement, valuable 
minor resn'ts contributed by a workman in reducing the invent'on to 
practice without rejecting the original idea and proceeding upon a wholly 
distinct and separate plan, belong to the forme-r as a part of his 'nvention. 

When all that is new and patentable in a device is embodied by an em- 
ployee at the express direction of the employer and according to his ideas, 
the invention 's that of the employer. 

It is a well-established principle that an inventor has the right to em- 
ploy the mec'anical skill of others to carry out his ideas without forfeiting 
h's right to the invention. 

An earlier conceiver, by merely making a model and showing it to 
some persons, afterward doing nothing more, does not give or abandon 
the invention to the world so as to deprive a subseqtient conceiver of his 
right to a patent. 

The prompt filing of an application is evidence that a reduction to prac- 
tice was successful. 

An inventor who, after reducing his invention to practice, deliberately 
conceals it from the public, is not entitled to a patent as against one who 
during such concealment has independently invented the same thing and 
has patented it in good faith and in ignorance of the fact of invention 
by the first party. 

He who merely suggests that an invention may be made and furnishes 
the means to do it is not the inventor as against the mechanic who devises 
the practical method of making the invention. 



72 John Louis Waters & Company 

He who employs an old device in a new or modified way to produce a 
new and useful result must be regarded as an inventor. 

Where one is first to conceive an invention, but throws aside all evi- 
dence of the conception, makes no effort to complete or introduce the 
invention to the public, and delays making application for a patent until 
another has brought it into extensive use, has no standing as an inventor. 

The law does not look with favor upon a party who withholds the 
knowledge of his invention from the public by a negligent postponement 
of his claim until others have made and introduced the same. 

He is the real inventor and entitled to the patent who first brings the 
machine to perfection and makes it capable of useful operation, although 
others may have previously had the idea and made some experiment toward 
putting it in practice. 

A FINAL WORD OF ADVICE 

In closing, the most important thing we can say is but a 
repetition — "Delays in Patent Matters Are Dangerous" — and 
we cannot impress that fact too strongly upon your mind. 

You should lose no time in sending us sketch, model or 
photograph, with full description of your invention, and thus 
take immediate advantage of our offer of a Free Search. 

Bear in mind all the excellent features of our service, espe- 
cially OUR CREDIT SYSTEM, which has already solved 
the "Money question" for many an inventor on the verge of 
giving up because of lack of funds. And don't forget, we 
want to hear from you — keep in touch with you — help and 
advise you — because that is what we are here for. 

Keep this book and read it often — refer to it — and may this 
mark but the beginning of a long business relationship which 
we shall do our best to make mutually agreeable and satis- 
factory. 

At your service, 

JOHN LOUIS WATERS & CO. 

Warder Bldg., 

Washington, D. C. 

"Across the street from the United States Patent Office." 



INDEX 

Page 

Preface 3 

Our firm 3 

Our offices 4 

Our business methods 5 

Delays are dangerous in patent matters 5 

Inventions are good investments 6 

Objects of this publication 7 

Write for information 8 

Your Patent Attorney -. 9 

What others have done 12 

Will it pay to secure a patent ? 21 

Who may obtain a patent and what may be patented 2^ 

How to obtain a patent 25 

Our guarantee certificate of patentability 26 

Cost of a patent 27 

Our Credit System 27 

The application for a patent 29 

The claims of a patent 29 

Prosecuting the case before the Patent Oflfice 32 

The official drawings : 34 

Term of the patent 36 

Tinie necessary to secure a patent '. 36 

Joint applicants Z7 

Manufacturing under 'Patent Applied For" 38 

Obtaining financial assistance 38 

Assignments 39 

The value of attorneys 40 

How to send money i 41 

The sale of patents 43 

Transfers of patent rights 48 

Patents for compounds, etc 49 

Design patents 50 

Trade-marks 51 

Cost of trade-marks 56 

Trade-mark must be used continuously 56 

Trade-marks in foreign countries 56 

Copyrights 57 

Labels and prints ; 58 

Copies of patents 59 

Copies of specification and claims before issue of a jiatent 59 



ii Index 

Page 

Rejected applications 59 

Reissues 61 

Foreign patents 61 

Canada 62 

England 63 

France and Colonies 63 

Germany and Colonies 63 

Belgium 64 

Russia 64 

Mexico 64 

Asia 64 

Africa , 65 

Central America 65 

West Indies 65 

South America 65 

The Australian Cort-.monwealth 65 

New Zealand 66 

Special offer 66 

Combination rates , 66 

General instructions 67 

How to gain profit by inventions 67 

Useful facts about patents 70 

A final word of advice T2 



MODEL PRINTING CO., WASHINGTON, D. C. 



COST OF SECURING A PATENT 

Attorney's Gov't 

Fee. Drawing. Fees. Total. 

U. S. Mechanical Patent (Simple 

1 Sheet Case) $25 $5 $35 $65 

U. S. Mechanical Patent (Simple 

2 Sheet Case) $30 $10 $35 $75 

U. S. Electrical Patent (Simple 

Case) $30 $5 $35 $70 

U. S. Chemical Patent (Simple 
Case) $35 — $35 $70 

U. S. Process Patent (Simple 
Case) $35 — $35 $70 

U. S. Composition Patent (Sim- 
ple Case) $35 — $35 $70 

U. S. Patent for Medical Com- 
pound $35 — $35 $70 

Our Wonderful Credit System Places the Cost of Securing 
a Patent Within the Reach of All. 

JOHN LOUIS WATERS & CO. 

Warder Bldg. 

Washington, D. C. 



'Jtl'E will positively file your application in the 
4t|ti United States Patent Office before asking you to 
pay one cent of our fee. This saves time and enables 
your case to be filed without the usual heavy outlay of 
money on your part. 



I iBRARY OF CONGRESS 

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019 973 431 3 



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